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CHICAGO -- Chicago Cubs manager Dale Sveum has moved third baseman Luis Valbuena up in the order as he will bat third against the San Diego Padres on Wednesday while left fielder Alfonso Soriano is being given the day off.

"When Sori isn't in the lineup you have to have some creativity," Sveum said before the game. "Valbuena is swinging great so he's a logical choice to get into that spot. You have to be creative when you get your normal lineup out of there."

Valbuena hit his fifth home run of the season on Tuesday, surpassing his total from all of last season. The lineup also features Starlin Castro batting fifth for the first time this season.

Here's the entire lineup that will face former Cub Andrew Cashner:

1. David DeJesus, CF
2. Julio Borbon, LF
3. Valbuena, 3B
4. Anthony Rizzo, 1B
5. Castro, SS
6. Nate Schierholtz, RF
7. Dioner Navarro, C
8. Darwin Barney, 2B
9. Scott Feldman, P

CINCINNATI -- Despite Kevin Gregg's first save as a Chicago Cub in Tuesday night's 4-2 win over the Cincinnati Reds, manager Dale Sveum isn't changing his stance on the end of games: closer by match-up is still his strategy.

“One thing that helps is putting people in matchups or situations where they can succeed in a better fashion,” Sveum said Wednesday morning.

That's the reason he had Carlos Marmol enter the game in the ninth inning to face Joey Votto with the Cubs leading 2-1. Votto was 1-15 with nine strikeouts against Marmol. Votto singled home the tying run but the Cubs won the game in ten innings.

Sveum has stated previously when Kyuji Fujikawa returns from the disabled list he would resume his closing duties.

Wednesday's Game

Rain fell throughout the morning on Wednesday potentially delaying the rubber game matinee between the Cubs and Reds. Alfonso Soriano will get his first day off after stealing two bases and scoring a run on Tuesday night while Julio Borbon gets his first start as a Cub. Here's the lineup:

Davis DeJesus, CF
Julio Borbon, LF
Starlin Castro, SS
Anthony Rizzo, 1b
Nate Schierholtz, RF
Dioner Navarro, C
Luis Valbuena, 2b
Cody Ransom, 3b
Jeff Samardzija, P

Sixteen of the first 19 games played by the Cubs have been decided by three runs or less for the first time since 1991. All nineteen (6-13) have been decided by four runs or less.

CINCINNATI -- The 5-12 Chicago Cubs are starting to accomplish some things on defense the organization hasn't seen in quite some time. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it's been 10 years since the Cubs gave up more than 14 unearned runs – as they have this season – in their first 17 games of the season.

The last time they made more than 17 errors in their first 17 games was in 2000. Finally, 1995 was the last time the Cubs committed more than 17 errors and gave up more than 14 unearned runs in the first 17 games. Those aren't numbers any manager wants to see.

It's not a reach by any means to conclude the six errors the Cubs made over the weekend in Milwaukee cost them all three games.

On Friday, the first play of the game – an easy grounder to Anthony Rizzo at first base – was muffed, and the next four batters hit for the cycle putting the Cubs in a 4-0 hole. Losing by a run, 5-4, only highlights the magnitude of that error.

Saturday's miscues led manager Dale Sveum to say the Cubs were making "rookie ball" mistakes. A dropped fly ball by Alfonso Soriano in the fifth followed later in that inning by a bobbled ground ball by Starlin Castro allowed two unearned runs to score as did Edwin Jackson's throw into center field on a double play attempt in the sixth. The final there was 5-1 with four scoring thanks to those errors.
Finally, on Sunday pitcher Scott Feldman couldn't snag a ball hit back to him with two outs in the fifth allowing Ryan Braun to come to bat. He promptly hit a hanging breaking pitch for a 3-run home run.

The biggest culprits in the field so far have been Castro (4 errors) and Feldman (3). But at least Castro has done it over all 17 games. Feldman has appeared in just three. The last Cubs shortstop with more than four errors in team's first 17 games of a season was Castro last season. He had 7 through his first 17 games. The last pitchers with more than errors were Carlos Zambrano and Felix Doubront who each had 3 in 2010.

So the Cubs gave up eight unearned runs out of 14 scored by the Brewers. That's basically handing the entire series to the opponent. And remember it was before this past weekend -- last Tuesday in fact -- team president Theo Epstein said "we're not talented enough to play this sloppy." Obviously, his team wasn't listening.

MILWAUKEE -- Chicago Cubs manager Dale Sveum might be sending a message to his team after yet another sloppy loss on Saturday night to the Milwaukee Brewers.

"We're making mistakes that rookie ball people make," Sveum said after a 5-1 loss. "It seems to be the story every night."

The Cubs made three more bad errors Saturday leading to four unearned runs, and most alarming is they were made by key players -- two of whom should remain with the team if the Cubs become contenders over the next several years.

"It's unbelievable," Starlin Castro said. "I think we're trying to do too much. Trying to be too perfect."

Castro made his fourth error of the season, with two outs and a man on third base, on the easiest of ground balls in the fifth inning. That was preceded earlier in the inning by a fly ball that Alfonso Soriano dropped after thinking he had to go back for it instead of toward the infield. One inning later, Edwin Jackson threw away a potential double-play ball into center field.

"I double clutched," Jackson said. "Once I doubled clutched I didn't gather back up; caused me to open up instead of stay closed."

As always with this team lately, the outcome of the game is secondary. A more important concern is Castro's ability to play shortstop. Another question is whether Jackson can be a mainstay after starting 0-3. He's signed for four years and $52 million. Castro for seven years and $60 million. Sveum was asked if there really is anything he can do about the defense in terms of personnel considering the miscues are being made by his mainstays.

"There's always options if you can't play," Sveum said cryptically. "To win in the big leagues you have to have people that perform, and perform in 162 days and not once in a while. Otherwise you lose your job."

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MILWAUKEE -- Here's a quick look at the Chicago Cubs' 5-1 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday:

How it happened: Jonathan Lucroy improved to 6-15 lifetime against Edwin Jackson when he smacked a solo home run in the second inning. The Cubs tied the score in the fourth when Alfonso Soriano drove in Starlin Castro from second base. But the Brewers took the lead for good when the Cubs made two errors in the fifth leading to two unearned runs. First, Soriano dropped a fly ball -- that runner came around to score -- and two outs later Castro flubbed an easy grounder allowing another one to come in. In the sixth inning, Jackson threw away an easy double-play ball and the Brewers scored two more unearned runs. Other than the Castro run in the fourth inning, Cubs bats were silent against first-time starter Hiram Burgos and the Brewers' relief corps.

What it means: There's simply no excuse for many of the errors the Cubs have made this season. It has derailed more than just Saturday's game and more than one decent start from the team's rotation. A lack of focus seems to be the only answer, as these errors have come mostly on routine plays. The rest of the game, as well as Jackson's overall performance, is hard to judge when it comes apart so needlessly. After all, Jackson made one of the errors himself, leading to runs that don't count on his ERA. Maybe they should.

Key stat: Three errors in the game tied the Cubs with the Washington Nationals for the major league lead with 15, though the Cubs have played one fewer game.

What's next: The 5-11 Cubs try to avoid the sweep on Sunday when Scott Feldman takes the mound.

CHICAGO -- Dealing with April weather that seems more like November has been tough for the Chicago Cubs and their coaching staff. The team has cancelled two games within a week due to rain and winter-like conditions.

Manager Dale Sveum has pushed his players to embrace spring time in Chicago as a home-field advantage, but this home stand has been difficult to deal with.

"This has been a little exceptional as far as getting on the field," said Sveum before Wednesday's game against the Texas Rangers was cancelled. "Even when we have been able to get on the field it has been pretty miserable."

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CHICAGO -- Alfonso Soriano has had slow starts in the past but nothing close to the unproductive offensive drought he has experienced the first eleven games of this season.

Soriano seems reassured by last season’s rebound after a nasty six-week slump. He was able to turn his season around in mid-May, ending the season with a career-high 104 RBI. The Cubs veteran outfielder seems more focused on the Cubs record than his subpar at-bats so far in 2013.

“I am not happy with the record, but I am happy the way we have played," he said. “We have played hard and smart most of the time. I think when the weather gets better and we put it all together, we will be a better team."

A quiet confidence that burns inside the Dominican player allows him to move forward with his daily plan while staying positive. Soriano had played the first ten games of the season with only one extra-base hit and no runs batted in.

"I know myself and have a lot of confidence in myself," he said. "After only ten games, I feel my swing is getting better. Right now, they aren’t giving me good pitches to hit so I try to make adjustments. As soon as they start pitching to me and I have my swing in place, I will be fine.”

Soriano didn’t hit a home run in the Cubs' first 41 games of 2012. He then proceeded to hit 32 home runs in the next 121 games.

"I have been doing this forever," he said. "A young player might panic if he goes into a bad streak, but the guys who play a long time believe in themselves like I do. I am still here for that reason, so my confidence never goes down. I have talent that God gave me, so I never lose my belief I can do well. I feel like this is the second spring training. This one is in cold weather. I have been working hard. Sooner or later, everything will be better.”

After getting three hits on Saturday, the 37-year-old Cub said he is still open to a trade if management comes to him during the season. Soriano has one year left after 2012 on his original eight-year, $136 million mega deal.

"I will listen to whatever they are thinking about, “ he related. "I would like to stay because I like the owner and the baseball people. I don’t want to say I have to finish my contract here because I don’t want to put pressure on them. I don’t want to put pressure on me, either. It is open if they want to trade me to a contender. I hope we are contending and we don’t have to talk about me being traded.“

Baseball is witnessing the most competitive balance in more than two decades. As a result, general managers of contending teams already are preparing and targeting potential trade partners for the July 31 trade deadline. All the same, non-contenders are scouting the top prospects in the contenders’ farm system and noting their own trade targets.

For that reason, even 120 days out from the July 31 trade deadline, it isn’t at all too early to be thinking about possible trades.

Thus, here are 10 players I think will most likely be traded by July 31. Early on, GMs have identified the Miami Marlins, Houston Astros, Chicago Cubs and Minnesota Twins as the four teams most likely to be quickly out of the race, which is why this list has eight players from those teams.

Read the entire story here.

ATLANTA -- The Chicago Cubs are struggling at the plate, that much we know. Why it's happening? That's a little more difficult to figure out.

"I'd be lying to say we aren't struggling," manager Dale Sveum said before his team played the Atlanta Braves on Saturday night. "But it's too early to push the panic button. There's not much we are going to do. These guys are the core guys. They're going to come around. Unfortunately right now we have just about everybody not swinging the bat well right now."

Sveum can't do much to the lineup when Starlin Castro (.188), Anthony Rizzo (.083) and Alfonso Soriano (.133) aren't hitting. Rizzo, in particular, has had issues since his first swing of the season produced a home run. But that was Monday. He hasn't had a hit since.

"He starts analyzing and thinking too much about what the pitcher is going to do to him instead of just getting a good pitch to hit," Sveum said. "He's trying to guess along with each pitch."

Said Rizzo: "That's baseball. It's four games. ... Hitting is contagious. Once someone gets going I'm sure we'll all get going."

A look inside the dismal offensive team numbers (.133 BA, .188 OBP) shows the Cubs have the smallest (0.79) ground ball to fly ball ratio in the National League. In other words, they are flying out the most. That coincides with their hitting philosophy of working from the top of the strike zone on down. They want their hitters driving the high pitches. But most are turning into fly outs instead of line drives that can’t be tracked down.

"The approach hasn't been that bad," Sveum said. "We've gotten some good pitches to hit. We're just not doing much with it."

The Cubs want the "high pitch" philosophy to stick but if the choice is a high, warning track fly ball or a grounder in the infield, grounders have at least a chance at sneaking through. Dave Sappelt (.000) said after Friday's 4-1 loss he was expanding the strike zone late in the game since nothing was falling in. In other words, getting frustrated. Is that the case for the struggling veterans as well?

"Not frustration because it's too early," Soriano said. "Sooner or later we want to pick up the offense. ... It's nothing to worry about. There are a lot of good hitters on this team."

The Cubs have yet to prove that to be true.

PITTSBURGH, Pa. -- The Chicago Cubs have yet to decide if second baseman Darwin Barney will go on the disabled list with an injured knee, but he won't start in the season-opening game on Monday against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Barney hurt his left knee chasing down a popup in the Cubs final exhibition game of spring training in Houston on Saturday. Brent Lillibridge will start in his place and bat eighth.

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The Chicago Cubs outfield is where things could come up short for the team this season. There is some hope out there but even if Alfonso Soriano, David DeJesus and Nate Schierholtz reasonably max out, they don't compare to other outfields around the league. Only Soriano provides any power.

The good news is all three had relatively good springs at the plate and in the field. DeJesus, especially, was locked in from Day 1 until the very end. And his switch to center was a smooth transition. Schierholtz has deceptive gap power which will be needed at Wrigley Field. And Soriano hasn't lost bat speed nor strength being a year older.

Backups and/or platoon players Scott Hairston and Dave Sappelt do provide some pop from the right side but mostly if a left-hander is pitching.

Soriano's defense last season gives hope that the starting trio can at least hold its own if not overwhelm the opposition tracking down balls. Schierholtz will need to learn how to play right in Wrigley, it's the trickiest of the three positions. And DeJesus will need to cover for Soriano who's knees can always slow him down.

3 KEYS TO SUCCESS

• Schierholtz is a key because of where he bats in the lineup. He'll occupy the No. 5 hole most of the time which means hitting behind the likes of Starlin Castro, Anthony Rizzo and Soriano. That means plenty of RBI opportunities and for a guy who has never been a full-time starter it's a huge spot for him.

• DeJesus may not have had a bad at-bat all spring. He was on everything. But that's the spring, and the regular season is another story. If his on-base percentage can creep closer to .360 -- last year it was .350 -- then he'll be extremely valuable hitting in front of the big three. Between leading off and now playing center field DeJesus is important, at least until prospect Brett Jackson takes over.

• Soriano's health is a key since his bat will be so important in the middle of the lineup. If he can repeat his 2012 of 32 home runs and 108 RBIs as well as decent outfield play, then the Cubs might actually be getting value near the end of his contract. Even if he dips some from those numbers he'll still be a key to the offense.

MESA, Ariz. -- Let’s put a lid on the Chicago Cubs' 2013 spring training, their last at HoHoKam Park (which the Cubs have called their spring home since 1997) and the longest in history due to the World Baseball Classic.

There were some mundane days, but even for a team coming off 101 losses, there were plenty of storylines, players and moments of interest. Here’s the wrap-up:

Spring record: 16-18-1
Batting average leader (min. 20 at-bats): Brian Bogusevic, .410
HR leader: Alfonso Soriano, 5
RBI leader: Dioner Navarro, 16
ERA leader (min. 10 innings): Chris Rusin, 1.93

Most impressive veteran: It was close between David DeJesus and Starlin Castro; the latter missed two weeks but never missed a beat. DeJesus gets the nod simply because he was consistently good at the plate from day one to the end. He finally went a game without a hit because he got only one at-bat on the final day. Before that he was on fire, hitting in 14 straight and batting .364 in Cactus League play overall. And many of his outs were hit as hard as his hits.

Most impressive prospect: It’s closer than you might think between Jorge Soler and Javier Baez. Baez was simply better later in camp so that’s what people remember. Asking the experts, Soler is more refined at the plate and perhaps in the field as well -- but Baez has more flair. Soler did more of his damage in batting practice before games while Baez did it in games, so we’ll give the nod to him. The instincts in both players were impressive.

Best off-field moment: When Baez’s name “came up” a little too much in meetings, as one player put it, Cubs veterans decided to pull a fast one on him by dressing up his car with a major league logo and a large bumper sticker that said “Rookie on Board.” The 2011 first-round pick took it all in stride -– and had to drive with it on his car for a day.

Best on-field moment: Baez gets the nod here as well. His four home runs on seven pitches over two days broke up the monotony of camp and created a buzz. They were also rocket shots. Honorable mention goes to Jeff Samardzija, who hit two home runs in his first four at-bats of the spring.

Best quote: This goes to Dale Sveum, when he called a back-of-the-shoulder ailment to Junior Lake a “trapeze” injury. He was trying to say “trapezoid.” He was wrong there, too.

Strangest spring moment: It didn’t occur on the field, but a massive hailstorm that also brought snow caught everyone off guard. Samardzija was pelted while putting on the 12th hole, while players’ cars were covered in the wintry mess. The fields and grass parking lots the next day were soaked.

PEORIA, Ariz. -- After the Cubs dropped a split-squad game during the day to the Los Angeles Dodgers, 5-4, here's a quick look at their nightcap victory, 7-4, over the Seattle Mariners:

The Good: Jeff Samardzija did more at the plate than on the mound -- though he did strike out seven without walking anyone. He hit his second home run of the spring and added an RBI single and a perfect sacrifice bunt. The Cubs' bullpen pitched a clean final three innings, though there were baserunners on in every one of them. ... Alfonso Soriano homered for the fourth time in Cactus League play and David DeJesus, once again, put together quality at-bats. He had two more hits and lined out his third time at the plate. ... Brad Nelson hit the game winner out of the park in the eighth.

The Bad: Samardzija just didn't have much on his fastball, though his off-speed pitches were working fine. He gave up nine hits in six innings and every hard-hit ball was off a fastball, including a home run to Justin Smoak. ... Luis Valbuena and Nate Schierholtz combined to go 0-for-9, leaving six runners on base.

What We Learned: Samardzija hasn't been lights-out in any recent spring start, but he says he's right on pace for Opening Day. He did get hit but then recovered to throw a couple of easy innings, striking out the side in the fifth, for example. He misplaced his fastball a couple of times but learned to use his off-speed pitches more than he might be used to. The learning experience has to carry over for him to become an ace. Speaking of carrying over, it will be a big disappointment for DeJesus and the Cubs if he doesn't carry over what he has done this spring. His average is up to .361 and he has strung together a month's worth of solid at-bats. He'll be needed to do that in about a week.

TUCSON, Ariz. -- In baseball circles, getting off to a fast start to the season might be a cliché heard around all 30 spring training camps, but that is the sentiment veteran outfielder Alfonso Soriano wants to impart on his Chicago Cubs teammates.

"Every team has a chance to make the playoffs if they have a good April," Soriano said. "If we have a good April we can send a message to the other teams that we are a serious team."

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PEORIA, Az. -- On their final day in big league camp, Chicago Cubs manager Dale Sveum gave top prospects Jorge Soler and Javier Baez a nice parting gift: batting third and fourth in the lineup, respectively.

Maybe it's foreshadowing. Or maybe it's simply a reward for a good spring training as neither player did anything to dissuade observers of their potential. As they prepared to play their final game on Monday against the San Diego Padres before heading for Class-A Daytona, both reflected on what they learned. For Baez, it was simple:
"Take pitches,” he said Monday morning.

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