Yasmani Grandal leaves game early, will undergo concussion tests

LOS ANGELES -- Dodgers catcher Yasmani Grandal left Friday's game against the Padres with concussion-like symptoms, and will be reassessed on Saturday.

"I'm not sure if he's out or not," manager Don Mattingly said. "He seemed to be okay after getting hit on the side of the head with the bat, then he got hit the next inning again."

After getting hit in the head on a back swing from Yangervis Solarte in the third inning, Grandal took a foul ball off his catchers mask in the fourth inning when Matt Kemp was batting. Grandal remained in the game for the rest of the inning, and batted in the bottom of the inning, flying out to center field.

Mattingly said Grandal passed initial concussion tests by trainer Stan Conte after the third inning, but Grandal was taken out of the game after his next at-bat, replaced in the fifth inning by A.J. Ellis behind the plate.

"Just looking at him, he stepped out twice before he hit the ball to center, when he came back in Stan was paying close attention to him," Mattingly said.

Grandal is hitting .291/.403/.466 with four home runs and 17 RBI this season, second on the team in walks (20) and third in on-base percentage. He has started 30 of the Dodgers' 41 games behind the plate.

Mattingly said Grandal was sent home early Friday, leaving with his wife during the game.

Grandal was scheduled to have Saturday off anyway, Mattingly said, with Ellis starting behind the plate. Grandal will need to pass certain concussion protocols before being cleared to play.

MLB has a special seven-day disabled list for concussions, which was instituted in 2011.

Triple-A Oklahoma City catcher Austin Barnes, the only other catcher on the Dodgers' 40-man roster, was removed from his game in the sixth inning on Friday night in Las Vegas. Barnes is hitting .290/.390/.430 with three home runs in 29 games for Oklahoma City, and has more walks (14) than strikeouts (13) on the season.