Texas Rangers’, ace and one of the only original starters still healthy, Yu Darvish was hit in the head by a line drive off the bat of Leonys Martin during batting practice on Tuesday.
He was struck near the crown of his head. The Rangers’ starter saw the ball in time to turn and duck down but still the ball got a piece of him. Besides looking a little stunned and squatting down for a minute the 27-year old right-hander continued on to finish his pre-game throwing session.
Another Rangers’ starter, lefty Derek Holland was shagging balls in front of Darvish but one got away just hitting the tip of Holland’s glove. Holland later told reporters,
"“I heard it. I was supposed to be protecting him but I just couldn’t get to the ball. It was too high. I didn’t get high enough. He’s fine.”"
Darvish was examined by team physician Dr. Keith Meister, who didn’t find anything seriously wrong. As a precaution he will be reexamined again Wednesday before his final start before the All-Star game. He will be facing the Houston Astros.
Darvish sent out the same sentiment as Holland and Dr. Meister. He sent out this tweet to let everyone know he isn’t hurt,
I'm fine. “@Evan_P_Grant: #Rangers Yu Darvish takes glancing blow off the head. http://t.co/W1OI9MPaCy”
— ダルビッシュ有(Yu Darvish) (@faridyu) July 8, 2014
Darvish will be making his third All-Star appearance this Tuesday. He’s been an All-Star every year he has been in the league in his three years in the league. This season he is 8-6 with a 2.63 ERA. Darivsh has already pitched 109.1 inning and has allowed only 39 walks while accumulating 130 strikeouts. He also already threw his first complete game shutout since becoming a major leaguer.
Over his career with the Rangers, Darvish is 37-22 with a 3.19 ERA . With the incredible number of injuries the Rangers have, they are extremely lucky that their ace wasn’t hurt the way Cincinnati Reds’ closer Aroldis Chapman who missed a significant amount of time after being hit in the face with a line drive during spring training.