Desi, J-Zimm, Sweet Lou and Listach

Photo by Mark Zuckerman / NATS INSIDER

Pat Listach could get consideration for the Cubs' managerial job.

CINCINNATI -- Several quick-hit items to share before tonight's game gets underway. (Though with rain falling, thunder booming and the tarp on the field, it's possible this one is delayed a bit.)...

-- Jim Riggleman has Ian Desmond hitting second tonight, and the manager suggested it's something we could see more of the rest of the season. Though Desmond hasn't exactly torn the cover off the ball, it's tough for a National League rookie to bat eighth every single night. With the pitcher behind you, you rarely get much to hit. "I don't want to keep hitting him eighth. It's just that's the way our lineup was really set up," Riggleman said. "We didn't have anybody else to hit eighth, to tell you the truth. But we're going to try to get him out of the eighth spot a little bit more often and see if we can get him going at the top."

-- Jordan Zimmermann, who was scratched from his rehab assignment last night with Class A Potomac due to a stiff neck, is now to due to pitch tomorrow. Mike Rizzo said Zimmermann slept funny and woke up feeling stiff yesterday, and though he felt good enough to pitch by late-afternoon, the GM decided it wasn't worth taking the risk. Zimmermann, who is in the final stages of rehab from Tommy John surgery, was examined today and checked out fine. He's yet to allow an earned run or issue a walk in nine total innings with Potomac to date.

-- You may have heard that Cubs manager Lou Piniella announced today he'll retire at the end of the season. Riggleman, who along with Piniella lives in the Tampa area during the offseason, said he wasn't terribly surprised by the decision. "Lou's been doing it for 22 years in the major leagues as a manager," Riggleman said. "I see him every now and then down in Florida in the offseason, and I know how much time he wants to spend with his family, his grandchildren. He's alluded to that in the past." A lot of names are already being thrown around as possible candidates to take over in Chicago, headlined by Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg, but one name to keep in mind is Pat Listach. He managed in the Cubs' farm system from 2006-08, including at Class AAA Iowa in 2008 before joining the Nationals. Listach said today he hasn't heard anything from the Cubs yet, but don't be surprised if he gets at least some consideration for the position. "I definitely think he's going to manage someday," Riggleman said. "He's a really good baseball man in terms of strategy and talking and preparing. He brings up some interesting conversation and asks the right questions. He's got the whole resume."