Shortstop Shawon Dunston says he was taking batting practice before Monday`s game against Atlanta when he finally realized his nagging back injury was worse than he wanted to admit.
”The pain just shot through my back and down my leg,” Dunston said in the locker room Friday. ”I knew I had to tell (the manager and trainers), but I wanted to play in that game.”
Dunston said the pain got worse after he went home.
More Top Picks Best Watch Winders For Automatic Watches
”I called the doctor about 1 o`clock that night and said that my leg was numb,” said Dunston, who will undergo back surgery for a bulging disc Wednesday and is expected to be lost for the season.
”I`m not worried,” Dunston said. ”I had surgery on my hand (in 1987)
and had screws in it and I came back and played with that. This time I don`t have to rush back because it will be September anyway. I`ll be back for spring training.”
– Left-hander Lance Dickson, the Cubs` top draft pick in 1990, will be examined Monday by Dr. Michael Schafer, the team`s orthopedic surgeon. Dickson has been bothered by a sore shoulder and started the season at Iowa on the disabled list. He made his first start Wednesday night and was the losing pitcher. He lasted just 2 1/3 innings, giving up five runs on six hits, walking two and striking out two.
Dickson is the second top pitching prospect from Iowa to be examined by Schafer in a week. Right-hander Turk Wendell has a stress fracture of his elbow and will be out at least 10 weeks.