HOUSTON -- Jack Wilson probably has not taken his final at-bat of 2008, but he will not take the field again.

The Pirates' shortstop learned yesterday that his right index finger has a hairline fracture, enough that doctors will not permit him to throw again for roughly six weeks, well after the season will be done. The injury occurred Aug. 31, when a ground ball struck Wilson's bare hand and forced him out of the game, but the break was not diagnosed until the swelling subsided this past weekend.

"If everything goes well, Jack will be able to pinch-hit in the final week or so," manager John Russell said.

One indication that Wilson will be able to hit came yesterday, when he took some light swings before the game at Minute Maid Park.

"I am going to try to hit," Wilson said. "That way, I can have some kind of purpose."

There is no need for placement on the disabled list because of expanded September rosters.

Wilson, 30, never had been on the disabled list before missing two months early this season to a severely strained left calf.

"I've missed three months of the season now, so it's frustrating," Wilson said. "There's nothing I can do about it. ... I'm a pretty positive guy. I don't say, 'Oh, poor me.' "

One regret Wilson surely would have is if he cannot appear in the Sept. 21 home finale, which would be his last game in Pittsburgh if he is traded this offseason.

"Hopefully, I can hit that day. I'd like to get out there. We'll see what happens."

Russell said Wilson's place will be split, to some degree, between rookies Brian Bixler and Luis Cruz, but he added that management also wants to see Cruz used at other positions to gauge his worth as a super-utility type. In spring training, Cruz played all over the diamond, except left field and catcher.

"And he probably could catch, too," Russell said.

Wilson pledged to work with both.

"That's my job now, to help these young guys as much as I can," he said.

• Nate McLouth was right back in the lineup, a day after a line drive bounced into his forehead and a pitch struck his pinky finger. The swelling above the left eyebrow had mostly subsided, but there was deep bruising under the eye. "Looks like a prize fighter," third baseman Andy LaRoche said.

• Catcher Matt Wieters, the Baltimore Orioles prospect the Pirates bypassed in the draft last year, was named Baseball America's minor league player of the year after batting a combined .355 with 27 home runs in Class A and AA.

• The Pirates traded minor league catcher Michel Hernandez, who batted .266 in 76 games for Class AAA Indianapolis, to the Tampa Bay Rays for future considerations.