Guillen says Fields must improve his defense

CLEVELAND - In Wednesday's makeshift lineup, Josh Fields was the White Sox' designated hitter.

Could that be Fields' future in the major leagues?

If he remains with the Sox, Fields is not likely to be the starting third baseman because he's a subpar defender.

"Unfortunately for him, I believe in defense," said Sox manager Ozzie Guillen. "I think defense is a big part of baseball, and people don't realize that. All the good teams struggling right now that are supposed to be in the pennant race, besides injury, it's pitching and defense. If you play good defense, your pitching staff will be better."

Fields worked on his defense with bench coach Joey Cora nearly every day in spring training, and he made positive strides.

But in a two-week stint with the White Sox earlier this season, Fields made 2 errors in 8 games.

Fields was recalled from Class AAA Charlotte on Tuesday.

"I promised (general manager) Kenny Williams that (Fields) isn't going to be Joe Crede, but this kid will be good enough to be on third base on the big-league level," Guillen said. "All of a sudden, we call him up and he struggled, maybe because his knee was bothering him. But for whatever reason, he didn't work out enough out there, or whatever the reason, I didn't see improvement. He's got to get better on defense. If he wants to play on a winning team, you have to play defense."

Glove man: With Joe Crede again sidelined with a sore back, Juan Uribe is playing third base for the White Sox again.

Uribe isn't much of an offensive threat, but he can play third, shortstop and second base at a high level.

That's why the Sox decided to release Pablo Ozuna in early August. The popular Ozuna caught on with the Los Angeles Dodgers, but he was released again.

"We know Uribe is going to help us," manager Ozzie Guillen said. "When we made the Ozuna decision, it looked like we didn't know what we're doing. We chose the right one because I believe Uribe can play all three positions better than anyone, and he's doing it right now and swinging the bat better."

Mac's back: Since coming up from Class AAA Charlotte on Monday, reliever Mike MacDougal has emerged from the doghouse while making 2 appearances against Cleveland and pitching 2 scoreless innings.

"I like the way he throws," Guillen said. "His body language and composure is better. He's not all over the place. He's throwing strikes."

Another enigmatic reliever, Boone Logan, did not make a good impression Tuesday while failing to retire any of the three hitters he faced.

"I saw Logan throw well (Monday), and all of a sudden he's gone," Guillen said. "Then I know I can't use him."