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Brentz to miss camp after gun accident

Red Sox prospect shot himself in leg while cleaning firearm
February 9, 2013
Red Sox outfield prospect Bryce Brentz will miss Major League Spring Training after he shot himself in the leg while cleaning a handgun recently, the team disclosed Saturday.

Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington told MLB.com that Brentz is expected to make a full and relatively speedy comeback.

"He had an accident. He was at home [in Tennessee] cleaning a gun and it accidentally went off. He was injured in the process," Cherington said. "Fortunately for him, it's something he's going to recover from and be fine -- and [it] won't affect his baseball career. He wasn't 100 percent physically able, or wouldn't be at the beginning of camp. We ended up not bringing him to big league camp because he wouldn't be able to participate 100 percent."

Brentz, the Red Sox's No. 7 prospect, hit .296/.355/.478 with 17 homers and 76 RBIs in 122 games for Double-A Portland last season before going 2-for-17 (.118) in a five-game stint with Triple-A Pawtucket. Assigned to the Arizona Fall League, he batted .297 with two homers and 11 RBIs in 17 games with Surprise and appeared in the Rising Stars Game.

Selected 36th overall in the 2010 Draft out of Middle Tennessee State, Brentz tweeted Saturday evening that he planned to resume practicing early next week.

"Wanna thank everyone for the concerns and prayers. I return to full practice Monday and looking forward to a great 2013 season," he said.

Cherington also told MLB.com the incident wouldn't meaningfully affect Brentz's future with the organization and that the 24-year-old might be able to play in a game by the end of Spring Training.

"The bullet went into his leg and out the other side. I guess you could say he's lucky, relative to what happened," Cherington added. "I think he understands he got lucky and it's a serious thing and he has to be careful. He's here in Fort Myers and he's recovering -- and it's not going to get in the way of his future. But he won't be in big league camp.

"We wouldn't rule him out being in games by the end of Spring Training, but we'll see how it goes the next couple of weeks."

Jonathan Raymond is a contributor to MLB.com.