Marlon Byrd inadvertently took one off the hand last night, and was quickly removed from the game, as he was in obvious pain. The good news is he’s just day-to-day, and is probably going to be fine.
The ball ricocheted off Byrd’s hand and struck him on the top of the right foot. Byrd jumped holding his injured hand, then limped away from the batter’s box. He spent a couple of minutes being looked at by a trainer, but eventually went to first base and later scored on a two-run, bases-loaded single by Tyler Colvin.
In the bottom of the inning, Colvin moved from right field to center and Kosuke Fukudome took over in right. A Cubs spokesman said Byrd’s X-rays were negative. cubs.com.
Marlon Byrd has been the Cubs’ most consistent hitter all year (and a plus defender in center field, to boot), so any extended absence would certainly hurt the team.
