The Cubs manager, a former hitting coach, is working with Pie, who has gotten off to a slow start, batting .154 in 11 games.

"We're just shortening up his swing and getting him to hit more front-sided as opposed to back-sided," Piniella said Thursday. "It might take a little bit, but I think it's going to really help him. He's taking batting practice every day, he's working in the cage. We're filming everything so he can see it.

"At the same time, we're doing a few things with the strength coach to help him," Piniella said about strengthening Pie's forearms. "[Wednesday night] he took four pitches out of the zone. We're trying to simplify things."

On Wednesday, Pie, 23, drew a walk in his only plate appearance and scored a run. It was his first walk this season. Pie has struck out 10 times. How long will the process take?

"I told him there's no hurry," Piniella said. "I said, 'When you feel comfortable, we'll get you out there.' I would think a week or so of taking [batting practice] and getting used to getting some weight shift and front-arm extension and a little shorter swing.

"This kid will catch on, and when he does and he feels comfortable with it, we'll run him out there."

The highly touted Pie has shown he can hit in the Minor Leagues, displaying a career .301 average. In 2006, he hit .283 at Triple-A Iowa with 15 homers and 17 stolen bases, but he also struck out 126 times. Last season, Pie hit .362 at Iowa and .215 in 87 games with the Cubs.

What sets him apart from other outfielders is Pie's defensive skills. He is fast and can cover a lot of ground in center field. He was able to snare Corey Patterson's fly ball in deep center in the seventh on Wednesday.

"[Reed] Johnson is a nice outfielder," Piniella said, "but I'm not so sure he would've gotten to that ball. It's our job to work with these guys and improve them. We'll spend as much time as needed to get this young man to hit to a semblance of what he does in Triple-A when he's down there."

Pie did have to be careful in the eighth inning Wednesday after Cincinnati's Adam Dunn hit a mammoth home run that cleared the right-field bleachers. It's a tradition at Wrigley Field to throw opposing home runs back, and someone did throw a ball onto the field, but it was followed by another and another until there were 15 on the field.

"It's something I hadn't seen before," Piniella said. "What's amazing is [the fans] beat each other up trying to get these balls in batting practice, and they scrape their knees and elbows. I've seen some fistfights out there, and all of a sudden they give them up rather easily."

Japanese outfielder Kosuke Fukudome, who was in right field and closest to most of the balls, knew about the Wrigley tradition.

"I didn't know that many people hit home runs today," Fukudome said after the game.