"Alfonso Soriano has been receptive to the days off manager Lou Piniella is giving him this season.

Piniella is mindful that it can help his outfielder stay productive.

''Especially with the day games here,'' Soriano said.

But he admitted watching from the bench Saturday, when the Cubs had one of their worst losses of the season, was difficult.

''I don't like to watch, and that game was very tough,'' he said of the 12-0 defeat. ''We know we can play better; that's the problem. We have so many good players here. What's going on? It's not the team I saw in spring training.

''We're not consistent at all. One day we're good, then two days bad. We play like we're in rookie ball, like we've never played this game before.''

Soriano said that through the team's struggles, he has paid attention to and drawn positives from rookie Starlin Castro and veteran Marlon Byrd.

''Castro is young, and I was young once, too,'' he said. ''And Marlon is a veteran, and he always plays hard, no matter what.''"