Brandon Belt was medically cleared to return to baseball activities yesterday, and he was in great spirits after taking batting practice with his teammates at AT&T Park.
“Swing’s pretty good,” Belt said. However, he was even happier about his showing yesterday in Pittsburgh, at the office of concussion specialist Dr. Micky Collins. They put him through what sounded like a rigorous set of eye tests, and Belt was extremely proud of his results.
“Sharp as a tack,” said Belt. “I missed one the entire test.”
The tests he described entailed shaking his head back and forth while identifying the orientation of the letter “E” (right side up, backwards, upside down). He also performed the same test while nodding his head up and down.
According to Belt, a group of men in the military who were in their 20s had an average score of 200 on the test. Belt reported a score of 300 on the side to side test, 280 on the up/down portion.
“I get competitive when I have to do eye charts,” he said.
As for the baseball test, Belt seems to think he’ll be ready for action soon. Like, sooner than Bruce Bochy said yesterday, when the Giants manager speculated that he could return in a week to 10 days. The plan is for Belt to hit live pitching soon. He’s going to make the trip to Arizona with the team, and he said he feels great besides his body getting a little out of shape over the last few weeks.
“All you do is sit and eat,” Belt said about how he spent his time between his last game on Aug. 6 and getting cleared yesterday.
He also watched some movies, including “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” when he was still feeling the aftereffects of his concussion. Because of all the action, colors and fast cuts, Belt left that one midway through. He didn’t mind, because TMNT (which got 20% on Rotten Tomatoes) was “boring.”
He’s also got a baby boy to take care of, and while Greyson likes to sleep (much like his father), he tends to wake up at night (also like his father). Brandon was under doctor’s orders to get eight hours of sleep every night, but luckily his wife Haylee understood. “She’s been cutting me some slack,” Brandon said.
