Kyle

Farnsworth

Pitching coach Larry Rothschild said he’d evaluate Farnsworth today before seeing what the next step is.

The Cubs liked what they saw, and it’s possible Farnsworth could return to the bullpen as early as Sunday.

He’s not out of that. We’re going to increase some more of his rehab activity. He might just play some light catch, but that’s really all we’re going to do with him.”

He ran into the outfield wall. Doesn’t sound like a serious injury.

Manager Dusty Baker is overreacting to back-to-back poor outings by Farnsworth, who has had a great year, limiting batters to a .192 average and a 592 OPS. Alfonseca has struggled just as much as Farnsworth in his last two outings, but who cares? After all, he had 45 saves that one year.

''I mean if I thought the heart of the lineup was up in the eighth inning I might use Hawk (LaTroy Hawkins) in the eighth and use (Kyle) Farnsworth in the ninth,’' Baker said. ''I’ll probably use Hawkins most of the time. It could be (Mark) Remlinger, it could be (Kent) Mercker, I just don’t know yet.’'

Farnsworth is troubled by a sore back and was going to need a couple of days off anyway. The suspension was the result of his tackle of Jeremy Affeldt in a game against the Royals last month.

He’s also been troubled by a sore back. With Chris Reitsma struggling of late, Farnsworth still needs to be owned in all leagues.

He’s day-to-day. Sidney Ponson took over after Farnsworth got two outs in the eighth.

Farnsworth hadn’t pitched since taking a grounder off his hand last Thursday.