by Gordon Wittenmyer, The Chicago Sun-Times , Chicago Sun Times

Barring a setback with his healing left shoulder, Ramirez plans to continue taking batting practice through the series in Pittsburgh, then head out Thursday for a minor-league rehab assignment of maybe four or five games.

That could put him back in the middle of the Cubs' order early next week -- well ahead of the Cardinals series that weekend.

''He needs some at-bats. It's been a long time for Ramirez,'' manager Lou Piniella said. ''He'll know [how many games he'll need]. He's a professional hitter. He can tell us more than we can tell him, quite honestly. He's worked hard, to his credit.

''He's going to go out Thursday. We don't anticipate any problems here. And I would think about 20 at-bats, but we're going to let Rami determine that.''

Ramirez injured his shoulder diving for ball May 8. He was batting .364 with four homers and 16 RBI in 18 games. The Cubs have struggled to hit since, going 20-25 since his injury.

His 111 RBI last season led the Cubs , who don't have a player with 40 RBI yet this season.

''They've been hard to replace,'' Piniella said.

Even from afar, DeRosa has been monitoring the impact, telling ''Waddle and Silvy'' on WMVP-AM (1000) on Monday, ''Aramis not in the lineup kills them. It killed our team when he wasn't in the lineup when I was on the team. I think once they get him back, everyone will kind of relax.''

DEROSA THE CARD

The ex-Cub didn't seem to take long coming to terms with his new enemy status. From the radio interview:

''It was definitely strange [Sunday] putting on that uniform of a team that you kind of got up for playing for the Cubs . You know what, though, I did a lot of soul searching that past couple of weeks, about moving on. I didn't leave the Cubs ; the Cubs , they left me. So I feel good about the move. I'm excited to be here.

''It wasn't my decision to leave Chicago, so hopefully fans understand that. I enjoyed my time in Chicago, and I loved it there, but at the same time, they let me go. I find myself in this uniform, and I'll do everything in my power to help this team win the championship.''

ROSTER MOVES

Two days after the Cleveland Indians traded DeRosa, the Cubs put the player who was supposed to cover some of DeRosa's versatility on the disabled list.

Aaron Miles, who hasn't played since hyper-extending his right elbow during batting practice nine days ago, went on the disabled list for the second time this season. Miles, who's batting .203, would be eligible to return July 6.

Rookie outfielder Sam Fuld -- who gained instant, if temporary, hero status with a bricks-banging catch at Wrigley Field in the 2007 stretch drive -- earned his first call-up from the minors since.

NOTES

Alfonso Soriano has less than a week to make up more than 168,000 votes on the Mets' Carlos Beltran in All-Star voting for three National League outfield spots or likely see his streak of consecutive selections snapped at seven. He ranks fourth among NL outfielders. Selections will be announced Sunday.

- Sorely missed reliever Angel Guzman (triceps) is expected to make two rehab starts late in the week with an eye toward coming off the DL as soon as he's eligible on Tuesday.

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