News
Martinez needs month's rest
Padres' Young willing to help Giants rookie pitcher
By Chris Haft / MLB.com
04/11/09 11:23 PM ET
SAN DIEGO -- It'll be an inspirational moment when Joe Martinez returns to pitch for the Giants. It also doesn't appear that this will happen as soon as the Giants might wish. Doctors determined Saturday that Martinez, who remains hospitalized in San Francisco after being hit on the right forehead Thursday by a Mike Cameron line drive, must rest a month before resuming physical activity. Martinez, 26, also must refrain from airplane travel for two weeks. On Friday, manager Bruce Bochy expressed hopes that Martinez would pitch sometime in May. But, as Giants head athletic trainer Dave Groeschner explained, "the guy has three [hairline] fractures [in his skull] and a pretty good concussion. You have to let that get better." Groeschner said that Martinez is still experiencing some internal bleeding, though the swelling around his eye is reduced. Groeschner said that results of a CAT scan Martinez underwent Saturday showed no change from a previous test, which was a positive development. Martinez will have another CAT scan Sunday and could leave the intensive care unit. The right-hander remained on schedule to leave the hospital in two or three days. If or when Martinez needs advice to overcome the challenges of his injury, he can count on help from Padres starter Chris Young. The 6-foot-10 right-hander, who faces the Giants in Sunday's series finale, was struck between the eyes by an Albert Pujols line drive last May 21 and missed more than two months. "It's not a fun experience and it's not something that everybody's been through," Young said, one day after Bochy suggested recruiting him to counsel Martinez. "I'd be willing to help in any way possible." Young acknowledged the widely held view that a pitcher who gets beaned faces greater mental obstacles, such as fear of being hit again, than physical ones. "I think the sooner he jumps back up there and gets back after it, the better he'll be," said Young, a 2007 National League All-Star. Young called himself "either really dumb or really lucky" to avoid psychological repercussions from the fractured skull and broken nose he received."I say that jokingly, but for whatever reason I just looked at it as a freak thing," he said. "Greg Maddux told me a couple of days after to think of it as a one in a million chance and your one is gone. I've played baseball 20-plus years and never gotten hit like that before. Hopefully I'll play a lot more years and won't get hit again."
Chris Haft is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
