Brewers shortstop Willy Adames was struck by a foul ball while in the dugout during tonight’s game. He was taken to a hospital for testing and will stay there overnight, manager Craig Counsell tells reporters, including Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
The incident occurred in the second inning of tonight’s game when Brian Anderson fouled a ball into the Milwaukee dugout (Twitter video courtesy of @thecomeback). Adames was removed from the game and taken to hospital for testing. While the incident initially led to much alarm, it seems that perhaps the worst has been avoided. Counsell says that Adames has no fractures and has remained responsive all night. They expect he will be released from hospital tomorrow but he will be placed on the seven-day concussion injured list.
While the good news is that Adames seems to have avoided any kind of catastrophic injury, the club will still have to figure out how to proceed without their everyday shortstop for a while. He had been out to a slow start this year, hitting .205/.292/.384 through his first 214 plate appearances this season. But he’s coming off an excellent 2022 campaign where he hit 31 home runs and slashed .238/.298/.458 for a wRC+ of 109. He also stole eight bases and provided quality defense, leading to a tally of 4.7 wins above replacement last year, according to FanGraphs.
In terms of shortstop options on the roster, there’s Owen Miller, who has played the position a bunch in the minors but has just eight innings of major league experience there. Brice Turang is in a similar boat, with plenty of minor league experience at short but just 16 innings in the big leagues. Mike Brosseau is also in a similar situation with 19 2/3 innings of major league time at that spot. Luis Urías has more than 1,000 innings at the position and is perhaps the best option. He’s on the injured list right now but began a rehab assignment on Wednesday. He is on the 60-day IL and isn’t eligible to come off until Tuesday, when he would require a corresponding move.
How the club proceeds with its on-field plans remains to be seen. But for now, the main priority is the health of Adames after such a scary incident. More information will come on that as well but it seems like it could have been much worse, all things considered.
“taken to hospital…” Oh Canada, our home and native land…
I had no idea Americans didn’t say this until just now. Haha. Thanks!
Also common in the UK.
Really dude? I believe school is the same way. You go to University. We go to a University. But I was just being a jag. Funny that you changed it though.
Tough night for the BrewCrew and they’ve had some tough luck lately. Hopefully Willy recovers quickly and makes a full comeback from this.
Anybody seen video of it?
It’s in the link.
There is a link in the post.
My bad I see it now. Thanks.
Glad he avoided a potentially serious injury to the coconut…
I felt really bad for Anderson. He continued his at bat and you could see the tears in his eyes at the plate. Glad to see the outcome is about as good as could be expected.
Yeah when those things happen, it can get to you.
I knew a pitcher who hit a guy in the head once and was never the same again.
Number one, next time, duck.
Number two, hopefully tomorrow’s headline reads, “X-rays of Adames’ head reveals nothing.”
Nothing – much like his batting average. Anderson may have done the Brewers a favor.
Turang is the obvious choice to cover short. He only has 16 inn there because he’s only been in the majors for 2 months. A loaded comparison, for sure.
I was thinking the same Turang is our future shortstop after we trade Adames because we aren’t resigning him.
Kind of shocked to see Brosseau even mentioned and Urias described as perhaps their best option. Defensively it would be Turang
Foul balls can be deadly.
I was at a minor league game when they announced Mike Coolbaugh had died from taking a foul ball to his head in the 1B coaches box. We all rose for a moment of silence.
They mandated helmets for base coaches after that. And the next minor league game I attended, Scott Coolbaugh was the first base coach, helmet and all.
Get well, Willie!
I wasn’t there, but I remember this. Isn’t it true that a dude named Chapman is still the only player to have died from a pitch? I believe that’s right. It’s kind of amazing if you think about it (that no one else has died). Baseball’s been around a long, long time.
You are correct. Terrifying story.