Cincinnati Reds pitcher Aroldis Chapman was struck in the face with a line drive during a spring training game. The scary mishap left him collapsed on the mound before he was taken off the field on a stretcher with fractures above his left eye and nose, and the remainder of the game was cancelled. He has a mild concussion and will have a metal plate inserted to repair a bone above his eye.
The scary moment raises the question, once again, of whether and how to protect pitchers from the potentially deadly force of baseballs hit back toward them. Like every pitcher in Major League Baseball, Chapman stands 60 feet, six inches from home plate and then lunges himself a few feet closer to deliver pitches. He stands exposed as the batter swings, relying on his reflexes and dumb luck to avoid balls that can come back toward him at more than 100 miles per hour.
This system works most of the time. No major league pitcher has ever been killed by a batted ball. Pitchers get hit on a regular basis, but more often than not it is to a leg or an arm or the ribs, or defected by a glove, or a glancing blow to the head. (The only player to die from an injury sustained on the field is Ray Chapman, a batter hit by a pitch in 1920.) Direct impacts are occasional but ugly. In 1957, Cleveland Indians pitcher Herb Score was left with fuzzy vision and a shortened career after taking a hit in the right eye. Two years ago, Brandon McCarthy, then with the Oakland A’s, had to have surgery to relieve an epidural hemorrhage after being hit in the head.
Earlier this year the league approved the use of reinforced hats for pitchers. The isoBLOX hats, made by 4Licensing Corporation use “uniquely-formulated protective plates” to absorb and disperse energy. Presumably, they would not have helped Chapman yesterday since the ball struck him in the face, but they are the best option currently on offer to protect pitchers. And they seem to be going unused.
When MLB approved them, McCarthy, now with the Arizona Diamondbacks, said the protective gear for pitchers was “headed in the right direction but not game ready.” He described concerns about fit, weight, and heat retention. Other pitchers have complained that the hats are too different from the norm and don’t look cool.
Mark Panko, 4LC president of sports and entertainment, told MLB.com that the company had adjusted a customized hat according to McCarthy’s concerns. It may take time, the company said, for players to get used to the different look. So far, 4LC and and the league have not responded to calls and e-mails about the status of the hats. As far as I know, no players use them. I will update as I hear.
