Dodgers pitcher May takes line drive to head
stevek
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https://www.yahoo.com/sports/dodgers-pitcher-may-takes-line-drive-head-232548522--mlb.html
Dodgers pitcher May takes line drive to head
Los Angeles (AFP) - Los Angeles pitcher Dustin May walked off under his own steam after taking a line drive to the head in the Dodgers' 4-3 Major League Baseball win over the Arizona Diamondbacks in Phoenix.
The frightening moment came in the fourth inning of Sunday's game.
The 21-year-old rookie right-hander, instantly recognizable by his 6-foot, 6-inch frame and mop of red hair, was hit on the right side of the head by a drive off the bat of Jake Lamb.
May crumpled to the mound holding his head and lay there until medical personnel arrived. After several minutes he was able to walk to the Dodgers dug-out.
May said the ball grazed his glove before it hit his hand, slowing down a bit and mitigating the damage.
"When it hit me at first it really just frightened me," he said. "Then when I was on the ground, it was like, 'Well, dang, I wish that wouldn't have happened.'"
Comments
Future of baseball:
Nets and face masks and shin guards and.....?
Nets around the pitcher would of prevented this.
Like in batting practice? LOL
I didn't mention the flak jackets. I figure i'd save that for another time.
Most dangerous position on the diamond, yet the infielders won't let the pitcher field a simple pop up.
That is really scary! It's a wonder it doesn't happen more often with the Pitcher being closer to the batter than anyone and being turned and off balanced after the pitch. Glad to see he was OK.
Royals left fielder Alex Gordon found himself on the mound twice last week to help wrap up 2 blowouts. He was throwing 78-82 m.p.h. "sinkers" on every pitch, according to the scoreboard. The thing that I immediately noticed was that he was flinching to some degree during every follow-through, and much more pronounced when the batter was actually taking a swing at the pitch. I'm sure it's an uncomfortable feeling to be standing in such proximity to MLB quality hitters intent on hitting your meatballs with a vengeance, especially when you're just out there toeing the rubber on a lark. Well, sure enough, during his second appearance, one batter lined one back through the box and tagged him pretty good on the backside and the ball ricocheted over near 3rd base. He finished the inning out, but I'm going to guess that Alex has gotten the itch to pitch out of his system after that, and we won't be seeing him on the mound any more. It really is a wonder that more pitchers aren't seriously hurt.
I doubt if most, if possibly no MLB pitchers, practice catching sharp line drives hit right to them. The pitcher could wear a mask and perhaps rubberized baseballs could be used to lessen any problems during this practice.
They should practice it like their life and livelihood depended on it.
I was always a pretty good fielder, and also pitched two years in Little League. Never had a problem with any sharply hit balls right at me. In fact i liked it because it basically always meant an out, and with the porous infield from my team, I needed all the outs i could get. LOL
Frankly, a pitcher should presume that every batted ball off the hitter's bat could be coming their way, and be in a position to catch it. I didn't intricately analyze the video, but it seemed to me that ball was not "very" sharply hit, and the pitcher should have been in a position to easily catch it.
Properly handling sharply hit balls right at them, including grounders and they probably don't practice fielding grounders that much either, could also mean the difference between winning or losing a close game.
The ball that hit May was slowed a bit by his glove, supposedly, and still managed to carom off his head into shallow left field on the fly.
There definitely is not enough emphasis on pitchers to be ready to field. When my dad was teaching me to pitch, he heavily focused on finishing up square to the hitter, ready to field. So many pitchers are practically falling down or turning their backs. Not smart, not safe.
I looked at it again. I'm not saying it wasn't a sharp line drive, but the ball was hit off the end of the bat as the batter reached for it, so it certainly wasn't the sharpest of line drives.
Appears as if the pitcher had his right hand out in front instead of his glove hand as he should have.
Another thing he could have done is just catch the ball with his bare hand if he was so out of position with the ball coming towards his head. I've caught hard balls with my bare hands and yes it stings, but i never had any problem doing it such as a broken bone, etc.
But perhaps being a high paid pitcher, he didn't want to chance hurting his right hand catching the ball? Well if that's the case then he needs to learn to get his glove in front and catch the thing.
Also seems he was bit slow to react to it as well.
You're fortunate to have a good Dad to teach you that.
The emphasis is the delivery and follow through at the MLB level, not preparing to field. Better strategy is to duck if possible rather than get your glove on the quick line up the middle. The gangly pitcher had no chance is this instance. Glad he was not seriously injured.
Looks to me like the ball was on him in a nano second! After a follow thru a pitcher is less than 60 feet (probably 57-58) from home plate.
Well of course it was. But if you've ever pitched, you would know that it's really not that hard to focus on catching a line drive hit at you.
You catch the damn thing almost more out of self-defense, than talent. LOL