In his ongoing search to locate his hitting stroke, Kyle Schwarber took early batting practice Saturday under the watchful eyes of hitting coach John Mallee and manager Joe Maddon.

Schwarber appeared in his third consecutive game Saturday night after being recalled from Triple-A Iowa, where he was sent to jump-start his lagging offensive production this season. In his first at-bat he lined an opposite-field single in the second inning of the Cubs game with the Pirates at Wrigley Field. He followed that with a solo home run to center field in the fourth.

"It's a continuous process," Schwarber said. "I'm really happy with how the performance from down there is transferring up here. You're back in the big leagues and you want to get ahead of things. Now that it's out of the way I just plan on being myself."

Maddon was on the field for another purpose during Schwarber's pregame hitting session and couldn't help stopping to watch and provide additional instruction.

"I just wanted to be an advocate of what's going on and lend another set of eyes to what they're doing," Maddon said. "Being an old hitting coachwhat they're doing and how they're doing it is very interesting to me."

Schwarber said he has focused on slowing down his mechanics and limiting movement.

"Everything looked really good," Maddon said. "Primarily, everything has been based about shorter movements (and) getting ready sooner."

Coming soon: Starter Kyle Hendricks (tendinitis in his right hand) checked out fine a day after his bullpen session Friday and will make a minor-league start Monday for Double-A Tennessee.

"Once we get that done and accomplished and he's well we'll be able then to try to figure out the post-All-Star break rotation stuff," Maddon said.

Minor honors: The Cubs named catcher Victor Caratini and right-hander Thomas Hatch as the organization's minor-league player and pitcher of the month for June, respectively.

Before the Cubs called him up from Triple A, Caratini hit .345 with four home runs and 21 RBIs in 25 games with Iowa.

Hatch went 3-2 with a 0.98 ERA in five June starts with Class A Myrtle Beach.

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Kyle Schwarber's progress on offense 'a continuous process' - Chicago Tribune