Derrek Lee could have called it a season and rested his right wrist for next year, but he doesn’t want to sit if he still has a chance to play. What does Lee hope to accomplish by coming back for the final month of meaningless games?
“I just hate to waste the season with 100 at-bats,” he said. “Hopefully if I can get 100 or more at-bats, 200 at-bats would at least cover close to half a season. I just want to get at-bats. If I came into spring with 100 at-bats, I’d feel I missed the whole season.”
Lee plans to take batting practice Monday for the first time since going back on the disabled list July 24. He hopes the extra time he took strengthening the wrist will help bring back his power stroke, which was glaringly absent in his earlier comeback.
Injury update
Michael Barrett did not start for a second straight game with a contusion on his right biceps but lined out as a pinch-hitter to end the game.
Barrett said he suffered the injury on two home-plate collisions, against Milwaukee’s David Bell last week and when the Cardinals’ David Eckstein slid into him during the third inning of Friday’s game. Eckstein suffered a strained left oblique on the play.
Barrett called himself “hour-to-hour” and said he won’t be placed on the disabled list. Why not rest it for a week?
“I don’t make those calls or those decisions,” Barrett said. “Each and every day I come to the field hoping I can play that day.”
Carlos Marmol will miss his start Wednesday with a sore biceps and might be placed on the disabled list Monday. Glendon Rusch would replace him on the roster, and Angel Guzman is likely to take Marmol’s spot in the rotation, while Freddy Bynum may be called up to take Neifi Perez’s spot.
Coming attractions
Eric Patterson, younger brother of former Cubs outfielder Corey Patterson, homered in his first at-bat Saturday after being promoted to Triple-A Iowa. Eric hit .263 at Double-A West Tenn with 22 doubles, 48 RBIs and 38 stolen bases. . . . While the Cubs still believe Aramis Ramirez won’t exercise his opt-out clause after this season and leave $22 million on the table to become a free agent, they do have a third baseman in the system with a bright future. West Tenn’s Scott Moore, a 22-year-old prospect who was a first-round draft pick of Detroit in 2002, is tied for second in the Southern League with 20 home runs and ranks third with 68 RBIs. Moore, who was acquired with Roberto Novoa from Detroit in the Kyle Farnsworth trade, is at least a year away from the majors.
