Finger's still bothering Wood

HOUSTON - Cubs manager Lou Piniella sounded a note of concern Saturday about closer Kerry Wood.

Wood threw from the outfield grass during the afternoon but pitching coach Larry Rothschild terminated the proceedings early because of the blister on Wood's right index finger.

Although the finger appears to be healing, Rothschild said Wood was still experiencing tenderness. After the session, Wood had a small bandage on the finger.

"He threw today, and he's still not ready," Piniella said. "We're going to ride this thing out as long as we can and hope that we'll get some good results a few days from now.

"It was more 'feeling' than anything else. The blister is healing, but he still feels it. He still gets that burning sensation in his finger."

The Cubs don't have immediate plans to put Wood on the disabled list.

"One of the things that we might have to do with Woody is let our starting pitchers go a little deeper into the games now," Piniella said. "I know that we can't allow all of them, but the ones that can, we might have to let them go a few extra outs. We've been watching their pitch counts carefully all year."

An early return? Alfonso Soriano took batting practice again Saturday and seemed extremely pleased with the results, flashing a smile and a thumbs-up at reporters.

The upshot is that the Cubs are talking about activating Soriano off the disabled list Wednesday in Arizona, one day ahead of schedule.

Soriano hit several balls over the fence to all fields during practice, a sign perhaps that his broken left hand is over the soreness and stiffness he experienced after taking b.p. last week.

"Soriano feels good," Lou Piniella said. "He's really, really close to being scheduled to go out and get some at-bats, probably as soon as Monday."

The plan is for Soriano to go to the Cubs' minor-league complex in Mesa, Ariz., Monday to get 6 or 7 at-bats in games and then play Tuesday for Class AAA Iowa at Tucson.

Moving on down: Right fiddler Kosuke Fukudome moved down to seventh in the batting order Saturday, as he entered the game in a 7-for-46 slump. Lou Piniella said he did it to relieve the pressure.

Speaking through his interpreter, Fukudome gave mainly short and clipped answers to questions.

Fukudome replied, "not really" when asked if he was a "tired hitter" and also to a question as to whether the adjustment to North America was harder than he might have imagined.

"I think it's all technical," he said of his problems.

On whether pitchers are pitching him differently, he replied: "It's definitely not the same."

Eyre update: Lefty reliever Scott Eyre did not throw Saturday. He's scheduled for a bullpen session today, and after that, the Cubs will determine whether they want to send him on another minor-league rehab stint. Eyre pitched twice in the minors and then took the all-star break off. He's been on the DL since late June with a strained left groin.