Tampa Bay Rays relief pitcher Hunter Bigge is recovering in a Florida hospital after he was struck in the face by a foul ball during his team’s 4-1 loss on Thursday, June 19, to the Baltimore Orioles.
Bigge, 27, dropped to the ground but never lost consciousness and was communicating with first responders, according to manager Kevin Cash.
“Certainly you feel for Hunter and his wife. I can’t imagine what she and he were going through,” said Cash, 47, after the game. “Scary for everybody, none more than them.”
The frightening moment came in the top of the seventh inning when Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman hit a 105 mph foul ball at the Rays’ dugout. Though the impact wasn’t caught on the game’s broadcast, the camera showed Rutschman, 27, immediately putting his hand over his mouth while Connor Seabold, who was on the mound for the Rays, dropped to his knees.
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Bigge gave a thumbs-up and received a standing ovation from the crowd as he was carted off on a stretcher. The game resumed after an eight-minute delay.
“Being out in the outfield, I didn’t really see much. I heard it, though. I was 350 feet away. I heard every bit of it,” Rays left fielder Jake Mangum said, per Adam Berry of MLB.com. “It was just scary.”
“It’s really scary. It’s terrifying,” Orioles interim manager Tony Mansolino added. “I mean, we all sit in these dugouts every night, and in a lot of ways you kind of feel like sitting ducks a lot of nights. It’s just terrifying. Wish the best for the player that got hit.”
Rays starter Drew Rasmussen added that despite the team’s loss, the outcome of the game was secondary to Bigge’s well-being.
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“In all honesty, like, tonight’s game — who cares? It’s a friend. He’s a husband, a son,” he said. “There’s so many things that are so much more important than the game of baseball. We hope he’s OK. It sounds like our first update was pretty positive, but we’re thinking about him, for sure.”
Bigge’s injury came just two weeks after Seattle Mariners pitcher George Kirby narrowly avoided what could have been a serious injury when he took a 102 mph liner off his face in a game also against the Orioles.
Kirby, 27, explained at the time that he was able to get his hand up quick enough to soften the blow, though the impact still left him bleeding from the mouth.
“I didn’t even see it coming, just put my hand up,” Kirby said. “I’m just glad it kind of missed any of the bad spots on my face.”
