Yankees pitcher Bryan Mitchell hit in face by line drive, suffers nasal fracture
The worst moment in baseball happened again Monday, when New York Yankees pitcher Bryan Mitchell delivered a pitch that Eduardo Nunez lined right back at him, striking Mitchell in the face at 103 mph and sending him to the ground as a hushed stadium hoped the scene wasn’t as bad as it looked.
We’ve seen this a number of times over the past few years and it’s not any easier to stomach the more we do. Mitchell grasped his face as he turned around on the ground, agonizing while the Yankees’ training staff rushed out to help him. Mitchell arose bloody but able to walk off the field. That was a very good sign.
A few hours later, after Mitchell had been checked out at a local hospital, the news was about as good as it could be: He had a small nasal fracture and would be monitored for concussion symptoms. That’ll hurt, but it’s not as bad as when Brandon McCarthy had a skull fracture and needed brain surgery.
J.A. Happ, Alex Cobb, Aroldis Chapman and, most recently, Archie Bradley are among the pitchers who been hit by a comebacker in the last few years. This has caused enough of a worry that MLB has introduced protective caps that pitchers can choose to wear, but they’re big and bulky and are hardly used. And when they are, the pitchers wearing them are often made fun of by fans.
Mitchell is 24 and was making just his third career start in two partial seasons with the Yankees. He’s appeared in 10 games this year for New York. On Monday night, he was a late addition after C.C. Sabathia’s scheduled start was pushed back a day.
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Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @MikeOz
