Piniella plans to stay aggressive despite sluggish offense

Here's an insight into the managerial mind of the Cubs' Lou Piniella:

"We haven't been exactly knocking the cover off the ball, and the worst thing that a manager can do is to get real conservative," Piniella said Wednesday.

In recent days, Piniella has shown a tendency to put his baserunners in motion. Sometimes it has worked, such as in Tuesday night's 5-3 victory over the Brewers, when Piniella sent Cliff Floyd from first base with Mark DeRosa up and the Cubs down 3-1 in the seventh inning.

DeRosa grounded a single to deep short, and the Cubs ended up with a 4-run inning.

Sometimes it hasn't worked, such as Sunday, when Jason Kendall struck out and Mike Fontenot was thrown out at third base.

Point is, with the Cubs struggling to score runs and hit homers, Piniella is willing to try something different.

"We've got to stay aggressive," he said. "We've got to execute. When a team is swinging the bat really, really well and hitting the ball out of the yard, you stay out of it as a manager.

"But when you're not, you got to try to help it out by creating opportunities and taking a few more chances. When they work, they look good. If not, you question the manager.

"I believe in a not-too-conservative approach."

Kendall, especially, is a good handler of the bat. He said he likes Piniella's approach.

"Oh, yeah," he said. "I'm obviously not a power hitter, never have been. I put the ball in play. It's kind of the game within the game. You've got to see who's covering (second base) or guess who's covering. Whatever they want to do, we'll do. That's the beauty about this team."

DeRosa did a double-take Tuesday when given the sign with Floyd, who's not overly fast, on base.

"I looked down at our third-base coach," DeRosa said of Mike Quade. "To know our signs, they're a little intricate. They're not that difficult.

"But I'm like, 'I think he just gave me the hit-and-run, but I'm not positive.' So when I got into the box, I said, 'If I see Cliff move out of the corner of my eye, I'm swinging.' And he did. A little luck involved.

"It was a great call by Lou, just to get something in motion, put something on."

Call-ups coming: Here's a name to keep in mind for September call-ups: right-handed pitcher Kevin Hart. The Cubs obtained Hart from Baltimore last December for infielder Freddie Bynum, and at Class AAA Iowa, Hart is 4-1 with a 3.54 ERA. At Class AA Tennessee, he was 7-5 with a 4.45 ERA.

The Cubs anticipate six to eight players coming up when rosters expand. Catcher Geovany Soto, shortstop Ronny Cedeno, outfielder Jake Fox and infiedler-outfielder Eric Patterson figure to be among the position players.

Hendry said he'd have "no problem" recalling lefty reliever Will Ohman, who had an uneasy demotion earlier this month. Lefty Carmen Pignatiello also figures to come back up.

Hart and righty Sean Gallagher may be in the mix to start one of the games in the Sept. 15 day-night doubleheader at St. Louis.

Hendry said the call-ups may come in increments, with 3-4 here by Saturday and the rest by next week.

Also, minor-league pitching coordinator Alan Dunn has left to become the Orioles' bullpen coach. Dunn and Orioles manager Dave Trembley worked in the Cubs' system together.