Just the start or the end?

Felix Pie steps into the batting cage, and Cubs minor-league hitting coordinator Dave Keller says a few things in English, a few things in Spanish and watches. Pie takes his swings in batting practice, and Keller says a few more things in English and Spanish but mostly watches.

Pie is expected to return to the Cubs' lineup today for their series finale against the New York Mets, and Keller will be watching even closer.

What he's looking for is that magical click.

With Pie, it has always come, whether it was in rookie ball or at Class A Lansing, Class AA West Tenn or Class AAA Iowa -- click, click, click, click.

Then at the major-league level ... nothing. At least not yet.

Maybe the beginning came Monday night, when Pie -- off the bench as a defensive replacement -- lined a three-run home run into the right-field seats for his first homer at Wrigley Field. Or maybe it was more of the same with Pie, who can hit the occasional home run when things are going bad but hasn't shown any consistency at the major-league level.

''You're looking for that click, for that light to click on,'' Keller said before the game. ''That's what makes this so challenging.

''Look at how many guys get from rookie ball to A ball, Double-A to Triple-A, Triple-A to the big leagues, then stay. This is the hardest thing in the world to do -- to hit. So me and all of the other hitting coaches out there, we've got the hardest job in the world.''

Especially when working with Pie, who has been a puzzle to some talented hitting coaches -- Dusty Baker, Von Joshua, Gerald Perry, Lou Piniella and now Keller.

Piniella had been driving home a simple message: He wants Pie to stride into the ball instead of lifting his front foot, then dropping it in the same spot as he tries to muscle the ball. On paper, it seems simple enough.

Then in the eighth inning, Pie showed he could do it.

''I remember what Lou was telling me,'' Pie said. '''Go through with your front foot.' That's what I did. It has been five days of hard work.''

His work isn't done.

Pie hasn't started since striking out three times in four at-bats Wednesday against the Cincinnati Reds. Time is running out on Pie to put some distance between himself and a .172 batting average with 11 strikeouts and five hits in 29 at-bats.

Left fielder Alfonso Soriano is set to return from the disabled list May 1. Veteran Reed Johnson has replaced Pie in center and Soriano in the leadoff spot and done a solid job. It would be counterproductive to sit Johnson just to keep Pie around.

So Pie has a little more than a week to do something he never has done before -- show he can consistently hit major-league pitching outside of spring training. If not, it's a strange crossroads for the Cubs and their 23-year-old outfielder. Pie already has proved he can hit at Class AAA. Returning to Iowa and thriving proves nothing.

The only way to see if he can hit major-league pitching is to stick with the Cubs. But Piniella can't run a tryout camp in May.

''Well, we'll see what happens,'' general manager Jim Hendry said. ''He's got so many intangibles that you would like to have. He's a tremendous defender and he runs good. He's 23. It's not like anybody feels like he's never going to hit. Sometimes it just takes a couple of things and you get rolling, and all of a sudden something clicks.''

Monday was a start. Getting a full game of at-bats today will be a better test.

Keller will be watching each one closely.

''The thing that always happens is you can have guys that are perfect in the cage, they go through drills and they're perfect, and then you take it out on the field and you go through a little bit of B.P. and they start to lose it a little bit,'' Keller said. ''And then just because you add the competition of the game, the adrenaline flow and all of the things that go along with the game, it's very easy to revert back to your old habits.

''Felix is not a prospect anymore. He's got to find a way to survive and put it all together.''

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Photo: Brian Kersey, AP / He's not there yet, but things were looking up for Felix Pie after he hit a three-run homer in the eighth inning Monday night. ;