To DH or not to DH, that's the question

Spring Training is obviously more relaxed than the regular season, but Lou Piniella doesn’t want to take that too far. Apparently, quite a few of the American League managers who are playing at HoHoKam Park have asked if they can use the designated hitter and not have their pitchers hit. That includes White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen, whose team plays the Cubs on Saturday in Mesa.

Piniella wants the Cubs pitchers to get some at-bats, get in the habit of running the bases, and bunt. So far, he’s been agreeable to the DH, but he also joked that he told pitching coach Larry Rothschild to call the managers for the Cubs’ road games at AL parks and say the Cubs want to let their pitchers hit.

“You’d like to think that you give yourself a competitive balance,” Piniella says. “You don’t want to just go out there and play. Sooner or later, you have to start worrying about winning some baseball games.”

– Carrie Muskat