CHICAGO -- Chicago Cubs catcher Michael Barrett could miss the rest
of the season after he was hit in the groin with a foul tip and
underwent surgery.
He will miss at least two to three weeks and was scheduled to be
released from Northwestern Memorial Hospital on Sunday, trainer
Mark O'Neal said.
"We have to see how he responds with the swelling and then we
have to re-evaluate him," O'Neal said. Sunday.
The Cubs placed Barrett on the 15-day disabled list Sunday and
called up Buck Coats from Triple-A.
Barrett was injured by Matt Cain's foul tip in the fifth inning
Saturday. He left the game after batting the next half-inning.
Barrett went to the emergency room and an ultrasound showed
bleeding inside his scrotum. Surgery took less than an hour, O'Neal
said.
"He had enough of a bleed that it needed to be addressed
surgically," O'Neal said. "Guys get hit a lot. You see guys get
hit and very rarely does it get to this extreme."
Barrett felt ill after his at-bat in the fifth. Cubs manager
Dusty Baker said no one knew Barrett was hurt during Cain's at-bat.
"He went down [after his at-bat] and said, 'Bake, I'm feeling
sick man. This is hurting badly,"' Baker said. "So I said, 'OK,
go see the doctor.' He tried to tough it out."
The Cubs started Geovany Soto at catcher. Henry Blanco, the
backup catcher, had to play first base for the first time since he
was with the Dodgers in 1997.