Sean Casey is carried off on a stretcher after a throw broke his eye socket during batting practice.
(AP photo)
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Sean Casey, the top prospect the Reds acquired just Monday, will be out 3-to-6 weeks with an orbital fracture in his right eye after being hit with a thrown ball during batting practice Wednesday.
During a double play drill, second baseman Damian Jackson threw a ball that Casey didn't expect, hitting him directly in the eye. Casey fell and lay motionless for several minutes. He had cuts above and below the eye and bleeding in the eye socket, causing it to swell shut.
Casey, 23, was given an IV and taken off on a stretcher. He was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital, where Reds medical director Tim Kremchek and two eye specialists examined him.
Kremchek said Casey, acquired in a trade with Cleveland, shouldn't experience long-term vision problems.
''At this point things look encouraging,'' Kremchek said. ''At this point we expect his vision to come back 100 percent. Things could be a lot worse. He should be able to play for the Reds this year.''
Kremchek said doctors will determine in the next four to five days whether Casey will need surgery. He'll miss about six weeks with surgery, three without. When he returns, he'll wear a protective eye piece.
''All indications are that he'll make a 100 percent recovery,'' Kremchek said. ''This isn't career-threatening or season-ending.''
Casey was placed on the 15-day disabled list after the game. Pitcher Todd Williams was called up from Triple-A Indianapolis to replace him.
Reds trainer Greg Lynn, who aided Casey on the field, said the fact that Casey didn't lose consciousness was encouraging.''He knew where he was and he knew what happened,'' said General Manager Jim Bowden.
Jackson said he and other infielders were playing a game they play every day during batting practice, fielding ground balls hit by Reds batters. It was Casey's first time, and he handled Jackson's first throw well. But a second ball was hit immediately after and Casey didn't have time to react.
When Jackson and teammates saw that Casey couldn't catch the throw, they yelled for him to look out, but it happened too quickly.
''This guy's a friend of mine,'' Jackson said. ''I'm the last person on this field that would want this to happen . . . It's nobody's fault.
''He wasn't paying attention, and he didn't anticipate the ball. I'm kind of mad at myself for throwing the ball, and I'm kind of mad at him for not paying attention.''
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