OT: Aroldis Chapman hit in face by line drive

Submitted by DLup06 on
Scary stuff coming from the Reds spring training game tonight. Aroldis Chapman, Reds closer and one of the hardest throwers in MLB hit in the face by a line drive. Reports still coming in, but paramedics immediately responded, and he was taken away by ambulance. Game was cancelled by umps and coaches. As a baseball fan in general, absolutely hate hearing about this. Thoughts out to his family and teammates. Link: http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/03/19/aroldis-chapman-carted-off…
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LordGrantham

March 19th, 2014 at 11:48 PM ^

Reports coming in that he is concious and talking, so that's good news.  He appears to have gottten away with just a nasty cut above the left eye.  I woudn't be surprised to see face protection for pitchers mandated fairly soon.

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JamieH

March 19th, 2014 at 11:53 PM ^

There is no way pitchers would be able to pitch with anything currently available that would protect them.  The only thing that would really protect you would be a hockey-style mask and that is just way too bulky for the pitching motion.   Maybe someday something will be invented that will allow it to work (transparent aluminum anyone?) but for now, I think pitchers just have to use their glove and their reflexes to block/get out of the way.   Given the number of pitches thrown each year in MLB, there have been relatively few serious injuries to pitchers due to line drives throughout history.

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JamieH

March 19th, 2014 at 11:58 PM ^

Yeah, I could see them trying to do something with the head protection.  It sounds like this hit his face though, right?  Dunno that head protection would really help with that would it?  I guess if the bill of the protector were really hard it might deflect it, but it might just deflect down into the pitchers face anyway.

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bballislife22

March 19th, 2014 at 11:57 PM ^

I know that they are talking about creating padded hats for pitchers, and I think I might have even seen a while back that they were going to test them out during spring training. While it wouldn't completely solve the problem, it would certainly help. Pitchers usually at least have time to duck, meaning more often a ball goes off the top of their head than their face. Any change would be welcome, especially if the pitchers are still able to effectively pitch.

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bballislife22

March 20th, 2014 at 12:03 AM ^

Yeah I believe it. I hope they get something figured out soon, though. With pitchers pitching faster and faster and hitters hitting harder and harder something terrible is bound to happen soon. Hope something changes before it does.

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LSAClassOf2000

March 20th, 2014 at 8:17 AM ^

"Outside The Lines" did something on the new caps that were approved at the beginning of the year, and as someone said, the reviews from MLB pitchers so far have been less than favorable. Even Brandon McCarthy, who himself was nailed in 2012 when he was with the A's, said that they  were loose and hot and generally distracting, as I recall.

The manufacturers were interviewed for that segment as well, and I think they even conceded that the MLB market is not going to be huge for them with the product as it is, but they saw a lot of potential with their products for youth leagues. 

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bballislife22

March 19th, 2014 at 11:48 PM ^

There's not a position in all of sports that is more dangerous than a major league pitcher. At any point you could have a baseball flying towards your head at over 100 miles an hour with basically no time to react. Pitchers finishing their pitches puts them in a dangerous position to begin with.

Certainly, prayers for Chapman. I saw a report on Twitter that he was able to move his arms and legs. Hoping it's true.

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JHendo

March 20th, 2014 at 2:29 AM ^

When I pitched in high school and Mickey Mantle league ball, one of the drills the pitchers had to do during practice was shagging ground balls right after coming out of a pitch. It was to teach how to come down from the mound in a prepared, aware stance in order to avoid something like this as best as possible among other things. That said, it's hard not to get lost in admiring your pitch, and there's only so much that half speed drills can prepare you for when you're in such a frighteningly vulnerable position/location.

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MgoblueAF

March 20th, 2014 at 3:33 AM ^

Really, no position more dangerous? How about a boxer, a QB who continually gets blindsided, or a WR who gets lot up in the middle of the field? Maybe the actual baseball to the face is the most dangerous type of hit, but the frequency of the hits for the aforementioned players is much dangerous overall

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bballislife22

March 20th, 2014 at 9:16 AM ^

I agree with what you said, obviously all of those positions get hit a lot more often and definitely take more damage. But I was talking about the worst possible hits that could happen to all positions, and yeah, being a pitcher is still potentially the worst. None of the 3 scenarios you mentioned involve being hit by something as rock solid as a baseball traveling over 100 mph, and all 3 of your scenarios involve some sort of protection. Pitching of course provides basically no protection.

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Artie

March 19th, 2014 at 11:56 PM ^

Is it bad that I immediately wondered if I would have to pick up Tommy Hunter in my fantasy baseball league? All terrible thoughts aside, I hope the guy's OK. This sort of thing always reminds me of Willie Blair for the Tigers getting drilled in the face and suffering a broken jaw. Don't think he even played much after that.

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JamieH

March 20th, 2014 at 12:00 AM ^

hard to come back mentally after getting hit in the head like that for any pitcher.  How do you pitch with confidence if you have something like that stuck in the back of your mind?

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Prince Lover

March 20th, 2014 at 1:16 AM ^

But in high school, I got hit in face by a pitch that knocked me clear out. Came to lying on the ground with a lot of people surrounding me. Having played baseball for 10 years before, I knew it was a freak thing and had no problems stepping back in there. With these major leaguers, and how many batters they've faced in their life, I'm sure 1) they've had close calls in the past and 2) they know with 125 years of history to fall back on, these injuries are a fluke and not the norm.

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French West Indian

March 20th, 2014 at 10:17 AM ^

Here's my youth anecdote.  When I was about 14/15 years old, I was playing in the outfield during practice one day.  Somebody hit a ball really deep so I turned around, put my head down and started running as fast as I could. This was the kind of practice field that didn't have a fence which meant the ball would roll a really long ways.  Anyhow, I guess I was faster than I realized because when I turned back to check on the location of the ball it promptly hit me in the jaw.

I only suffered a bloody lip and a small chip on my tooth but considering that I was running at a full sprint when I took the hit (and it knocked me clean out) I must have taken a helluva of a fall and could have easily broken something more serious (wrist, arm, neck, etc).  One second I was running and the next thing I remember was sitting on the ground groggy-eyed as the whole team surrounded my and the coach was asking if I remebered who I was. 

So yeah, shit can happen in baseball.  I hope Chapman has a speedy recovery.

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michclub19

March 20th, 2014 at 10:02 AM ^

This thought is just unrealistic.  If pitchers can't get comfortable using the padded hats they are developing, how could they be comfortable practicing their craft in something that completely encloses their head and weighs more?

The largest concern with a facemask of some sort would be needing to make it transparent.  Otherwise you may see in increase in these incidents if pitchers can't see the ball.  While the damage may not be as violent given a single instance, you have to weigh the cumulative effect too.

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Princetonwolverine

March 20th, 2014 at 8:51 AM ^

Hockey goalies (and hockey players) use to have the same arguments against face masks/helmets.

With time you learn to adapt.

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michclub19

March 20th, 2014 at 10:05 AM ^

Hockey goalies and pitchers require completely different skill sets.  For a goalie, nearly all the action is happening in front of you.  The pitching motion requires a lot more range of motion.  That being said, an early hockey mask or broken nose mask they wear in the NBA seems the most plausible solution right now.

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bigmc6000

March 20th, 2014 at 9:08 AM ^

I really hope he's ok and will come back from it alright.  On the plus side (now reading that it's just a cut and he's ok) maybe this will give him extra motivation to just strike out EVERYONE! :-D

 

But, seriously, glad to read that he's ok.

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falco_alba15

March 20th, 2014 at 9:09 AM ^

Has a form-fitting face mask available. They use it mostly because standing 60 - 45 ft away from a matter means that bang-bang plays are likely to happen. I coach high school softball. I don't require my corners to wear them, but I do require them to wear mouth guards. My pitchers aren't required, but it's the only position I've ever fully justified the facemask to. So the facemasks do exist.

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Wendyk5

March 20th, 2014 at 9:27 AM ^

In my daughter's league, all the infield are strongly encouraged to wear the mask. One shortstop got hit in the face with a line drive last year and she wasn't wearing a mask. Broke her nose. Also, sometimes the balls take a bad bounce and that's almost as bad as a line drive. They're kind of bulky, but once you get hit in the face, you realize it's preferable to wear a mask. 

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