Pitcher Ryan Yarbrough was put on the injured list (IL) after being hit in the face by a bullet during an MLB game.
The Kansas City Royals announced on the 9th (Korean time) that Yarbrough was placed on the 15-day IL after a hospital examination confirmed a fractured bone in his skull.
Yarbrough 안전놀이터 will undergo additional examinations and depending on the results, it may be changed to a 60-day IL.
Kansas City’s left-hander Yarbrough was hit in the left temple by Ryan Noda’s batted ball in the top of the 6th inning against the Oakland Athletics at Kauffman Stadium the previous day.
Yarbrough threw an 87.9 mph (approximately 141.5 km) sinker that lay low in the middle of the 6th pitch in the ball count 3-ball-2 strike, but the ball Noda received and hit immediately flew at 106.2 mph (approximately 171 km) and hit Yabro’s face. It struck.
The impact was so strong that the ball hit Yarbrough’s face and ricocheted all the way to the foul line near home plate. Catcher Salvador Perez caught it and put the batter out from first base.
“I thought my heart stopped,” said Kansas City coach Matt Quatraro, looking back on the dangerous moment. “Fortunately, Yarbrough was conscious and spoke.”
Yarbrough, who played for the Tampa Bay Rays from 2018 to last year and ate rice with Choi Ji-man (Pittsburgh Pirates) for four years, recorded a career record of 41 wins and 35 losses with an ERA of 4.41.
Yarbrough got off to a sluggish start this year, giving up 3 hits and 1 run in 5⅔ innings against Oakland, earning his first win (4 losses) of the season.
Kansas City brought up right-hander Jose Kuas from Triple-A in place of Yarbrough, who was on the IL.