CINCINNATI -- Josh Fogg will miss his next scheduled start for the Cincinnati Reds because of a split upper lip, suffered when he was hit in the face during batting practice.
The right-hander chipped a tooth and needed 30 stitches to close the wound on Tuesday night. He was playing catch in the outfield, warming up for his between-starts bullpen session, when he was hit by Joey Votto's batted ball. The lip was badly swollen on Wednesday morning, with sutures on a cut running from the lip toward his nose.
"I feel good, other than the fact that my face is blown up," Fogg said.
Fogg was scheduled to start on Friday against Colorado. Instead, Edinson Volquez will take his spot. With the Reds having a day off Thursday, manager Dusty Baker had planned to push all of his starters back a day to give them time off. Instead, Volquez will throw on his normal four days of rest.
"We were hoping to back everybody up because of the off day, give everybody an extra day, but that's not going to work now." Baker said.
Baker was relieved that Fogg wasn't hurt more seriously.
"He's lucky he didn't lose a tooth or break his nose," Baker said. "It's hard to play catch and pay attention. I've always been afraid of getting hit."
Fogg started the season in the rotation, then was demoted to the bullpen after three poor starts. He went on the disabled list with a sore back, and has been much better since his return. He went six innings during a 7-2 victory over the Mets on Saturday, getting his first victory since April 9.
He was in right field playing catch when Votto's batted ball hit him in the face.
"Somebody said, 'Look out' and I turned, and should have turned the other way," Fogg said. "I've gotten plenty of stitches in my life, but I've never been hit in the face before."
Fogg will play catch on Friday and see how he feels. His teammates were kidding him about the swollen face before Wednesday's game against San Diego.
"See him?" Baker said. "He looks like Mike Tyson got him."