Bill Center, longtime sportswriter for U-T San Diego, is an employee of the Padres.
Without question, the scariest injury in baseball involves the ulnar collateral ligament in a pitcher's elbow. The hint of "Tommy John" surgery to anyone gives me chills.
     
But there is another injury that has always thrown me for a loss.
     
That is the "bone bruise."
     
I've seen players return quickly from bone bruises. I've seen others miss almost half of a season. I've learned that bone bruises might be the hardest injury to project a return.
     
Right now, Padres' left fielder Wil Myers is on the 10-day disabled list with a bone bruise of his left foot. He suffered the contusion/bone bruise August 2 when he fouled a ball off his left foot.
     
Here's hoping Myers returns August 13.
     
But I am concerned for several reasons.
     
The left foot is weight bearing. Myers can't return until the foot can bear the load of his body under baseball activities. Can that amount of healing take place in 10 days? Yes. But will it?
     
And this is Myers' third trip to the disabled list this season. He missed 16 games in April with a nerve issue in the tricep of his left arm. Then he missed 49 games with a left oblique strain, another type of injury that only time can heal.
     
I'd love to see Myers back by mid-August, but I don't think it's something that can be counted upon. Bone bruises mystify me. They defy a traditional healing process.
     
Meanwhile, Myers was having a strange run dating back to June 7, the night he hit three homers in Arizona.
     
Starting with his three-homer game, Myers went 23-for-91 to the time of his injury with seven doubles, seven homers, five walks, 11 runs scored and 19 RBIs over 20 games for a slash line of .253/.292/.560/.852.
     
The batting average and on-base percentages were low while the slugging percentage and OPS were respectable.
     
The most puzzling statistic was 33 strikeouts in those 91 at-bats - meaning Myers was striking out 36 percent of the time. He stuck out at least once in 13 straight games with one game of four strikeouts and two of three. Over the 20 games, he had 13 games with two or more strikeouts.
     
NOTEBOOK:
     
--1B Eric Hosmer's nine-game hitting streak ended last Friday. But he has hit safely in 11 of the last 12 games and 14 of the last 17. Since July 14, Hosmer has gone 20-for-68 (.294) with a double, a triple and a home run with six walks, 10 runs scored and seven RBIs. He has a .351 on-base percentage and a .382 slugging percentage for a .733 OPS. Hosmer's home run on July 14 was his first since June 12. He has six extra-base hits in his last 42 games.
     
--CF Manuel Margot has raised his batting average from .229 to .253 since July 7. Over his last 21 games, Margot has gone 27-for-81 (.333) with four doubles, a triple and a home run with five walks. He has 14 runs scored and seven RBIs during the run.
     
--C Austin Hedges is hitting .324 (11-for-34) over his last 10 games with two doubles, four home runs, seven runs scored and seven RBIs. During the run, Hedges has a .378 on-base percentage and a .735 slugging percentage for a 1.113 OPS.
     
--RF Hunter Renfroe had a double and his ninth home run in a modest, four-game hitting streak at Wrigley Field. He went 5-for-15 during the Padres' visit to Chicago.
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