PITTSBURGH -- He might be a few days away from returning but when Chicago Cubs catcher Miguel Montero does make it back from his thumb injury manager Joe Maddon knows he has some lineup issues to address.

"I don't want to get too elaborate because I have to talk to a bunch of different guys including the guys that will be impacted," Maddon said Tuesday afternoon.

The situation is simple, sort of. Rookie Kyle Schwarber isn't going back to the minors, his bat is too valuable. So the key will be trying to find playing time for him while Montero returns to his catching duties.

"The challenge will be to keep Schwarber's bat in the lineup as much as possible," Maddon said.

That won't be as simple as playing him every day in left field. If it was, Maddon would have said as much. Besides, Chris Coghlan has done nothing to lose all of his playing time. Others might have to sit and that's when the decisions get interesting. Coghlan is the key here. He can play right, second or third. It means anyone from Jorge Soler, Addison Russell, Kris Bryant or Starlin Castro could get some days off. That last scenario would mean more of Russell at shortstop.

"There's all sorts of things you can do but you want to be comfortable defensively and feel good about it too," Maddon said.

And that's the other thing to take into consideration. Who's hot at the plate should be the overriding factor but when contact pitchers like Dan Haren and Kyle Hendricks are on the mound maybe defense should take center stage.

"Two totally different pitchers," Maddon said.

Haren is likely to give up fly balls while Hendricks gets the grounders. Maddon might tailor his defense based on that fact. Should Coghlan play infield on the days that Hendricks pitches? Should Schwarber stay away from left when Haren throws? Those are the questions Maddon is facing.

More than likely he'll institute a rotation based on all these factors. Make no mistake, the Cubs are in unchartered territory competing for a playoff spot with such a young team which includes four rookies. Maddon is acutely aware of what the grind of the season can do and will act accordingly. You can bet he won't be starting the same eight position players every day.

It might create some doubt in the minds of some players but that's when Maddon will earn his paycheck. He's a master communicator and can easily turn the situation into a positive -- like he did earlier in the season when the Cubs had an imperfect roster carrying three catchers. They went four games over .500 in April to set the tone for what has come. What goes around comes around as Maddon will have that same scenario facing him yet again. But this time his options are better.

"I'm not ready yet to tell you what the plan is," he said. "Once Miggy comes back I want it to be in place so there's not any gray area and have everyone knows what's going on. Those conversations are going on."