LOS ANGELES -- With a bruise under his right eye and blood still dried around the one stitch inside the tip of his right nostril, William Myers (Wil) was more than ready to return to the Padres' starting lineup.
Myers was batting second and playing third base Friday night at Dodger Stadium, two days after he took a bad hop off his face during batting practice at Colorado.
The former Rookie of the Year did not start the past two games, although he did pinch hit Thursday, earning a seventh-inning walk.
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"Yeah, it feels good to get back out there," Myers said Friday. "I'm glad that I didn't have to miss any [significant] time. I kind of dodged a bullet with what could have been there. But I feel good right now. I want to get right back in there and get right back at third and just act like nothing happened."
Myers admits, though, that he can tell that something did happen. It is not so much that he's sore from where the ball rebounded off the edge of the infield dirt and grass at Coors Field and connected with his nose and right cheek bone. He is still experiencing a dull headache, but the discomfort is not bad enough to keep him out of action.
"I have a little bit of a headache, kind of constantly, just in two spots," Myers said. "But other than that, I'm fine."
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Myers did go through concussion protocol, but was never worried about anything that serious.
"No, because as soon as it happened, I was very conscious when I was on the ground," he said. "I knew what was going on. There was never, like, a foggy moment that I had, so I felt pretty conscious the whole time."
For Myers, it has been an odd year for injuries, and although this latest one might be the strangest of all, it did not cost him a disabled list trip like the others. He had an irritated nerve in his arm that came from swinging the bat, he strained an oblique during an at-bat and then fouled a ball off his foot earlier this month. All three of those injuries earned a DL visit. He also was dealing with a back injury early in the year.
"He's had a rough year from a physical perspective after being healthy the last couple of years," manager Andy Green said. "He's definitely had some unique things happen and in this case, this is something that kept him out for one day, so he's going to be fine."
Nearing a return
Left-hander Eric Lauer pitched 3 1/3 scoreless innings in a rehab start for Triple-A El Paso on Friday as he closes in on a return from a left forearm strain. Lauer went on the disabled list July 31. He threw 61 pitches in the outing after throwing 45 pitches in a three-inning outing for Class A Advanced Lake Elsinore last Saturday.