If the hitter’s follow-through hits the head of the catcher sitting behind him, he may be injured.
Because the follow-through is a habit, there are batters who often hit the catcher’s helmet or arm. In this case, it may not be intentional, but it also escalates into an emotional battle because it increases the risk of injury.
Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Will Smith faced this situation. An away game against the Atlanta Braves was held at True Park on the 23rd (hereafter Korean time).
At the end of the 4th inning, Atlanta, leading 4-3, designated hitter Marcel Osuna entered as the lead batter. He retired with a fly ball to left field. After one hit, Osuna’s follow-through bat hit catcher Smith’s helmet. Shocked, Smith immediately stood up after being hit by the bat and called Osuna, who was walking towards the dugout, to stand up and start shouting something.
Osuna was also aware that her bat had hit Smith’s helmet. When Smith complained, Osuna approached him again and opened his arms in an apologetic gesture.
And the two players exchanged a few words. Ronald Acuna Jr. came up and escorted Osuna into the room. In the process, Oh Soo-na showed an expression that seemed to be angry even though it was not intentional.
At this moment, players from both teams’ outfield bullpens jumped out. The Dodgers pitchers stayed in the left outfield and the Atlanta pitchers stayed in the right outfield, respectively, and returned to their original positions when the situation was over.
The two players met again in the 6th inning as Oh Soo-na entered as the lead batter. Again, the two exchanged words for a while. They seemed to confirm each other’s positions. Nothing special happened, and in this at-bat, Oh Soo-na hit a hit to the right.
Why did Smith react so sensitively? There is a story about a month ago.
Smith was placed on the 7-day injured list on the 14th of last month. He was suffering from a concussion.
Smith received a concussion test on the 14th, which was a rest day, when symptoms of dizziness appeared, perhaps because he was hit by foul balls during three consecutive away matches against the San Francisco Giants on the 11th to 13th. He had no medical problems, but as the dizziness continued, he took two days off. He ended up on IL because his symptoms didn’t improve on the third day.메이저놀이터
Smith returned on April 29, effectively missing two weeks. There were circumstances in which he had no choice but to be very sensitive to being stimulated by his head.