High-energy Byrnes aims to regain spark

Before last season, Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Eric Byrnes never had been on the disabled list.

But the high-energy player has spent more time on the DL the past two years than he has on the baseball field.

He missed most of last season with two torn hamstrings, including one that was torn completely off the bone, and this year he has been sidelined with a broken left hand since June 25, when he was hit by a pitch from Texas Rangers right-hander Scott Feldman.

"It's been a long couple of years," Byrnes said Thursday before Reno's 1-0 loss to the 51s at Cashman Field.

He began a rehabilitation assignment Aug. 16 with the Aces and on Wednesday drilled a go-ahead RBI double in the eighth inning of their 6-4 victory over Las Vegas.

In nine games with the Aces, the 33-year-old Byrnes is batting .222 (8-for-36) with three doubles, a homer and two RBIs.

"I'm just excited to play baseball again. It's been a couple years since I really got to play consistently," he said. "It makes me realize how much I missed baseball. It's kind of been a nice reminder of how much fun the game is."

While Byrnes said he's completely healthy again, he's in no rush to rejoin the Diamondbacks.

"Hopefully I'll go up as soon as the (Triple-A) season's over," he said. "Unless I'm going to go up and play five days a week, it's not worth going up early, because the most important thing for me right now is to play every day, get some at-bats and get in a little groove.

"Right now, the most important thing is being healthy."

A .260 hitter over parts of 10 big league seasons, Byrnes batted .286 with 21 homers, 83 RBIs and 50 stolen bases for Arizona in 2007.

But he has struggled at the plate the past two years, hitting a combined .210 with 11 homers and 47 RBIs in 114 games for the Diamondbacks.

"I'm not going to completely blame it on the injuries, but obviously those numbers aren't where I would want them to be," he said. "At the same time, I feel like I've taken some good at-bats, even though my numbers here aren't good at all, either.

"It's a matter of hits falling in there, to continue to take good at-bats and hopefully carry that over" to next year, the final year of his three-year, $30 million contract extension.

Drafted in the eighth round in 1998 out of UCLA by the Oakland Athletics, a healthy Byrnes brings a lot of intangibles to a team.

"He plays with his hair on fire," Reno manager Brett Butler said. "He's a guy that's got a tremendous amount of enthusiasm that, in my opinion, is contagious.

"His energy just permeates the (locker) room. When he's around and on the field, he's kind of like the sparkplug that gets things going."

In addition to baseball, Byrnes also has enjoyed success as a broadcaster and aspires to work in that field when he retires.

"I'll kind of decide at the end of next year where my career's going to go," he said, "whether I'm going to keep on playing or switch over to the media thing."

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0354.