Tag: hit by pitch

After being hit in face by pitch, Red Sox’ Justin Turner tweets: ‘I’m going to be back out on the field as soon as possible!’

After being hit in the face by a pitch in Monday’s Grapefruit League game against the Tigers, Red Sox infielder Justin Turner took to Twitter on Tuesday morning to provide an update on how he was doing.

“Thanks to everyone for all the messages and prayers!” Turner tweeted. “I’m feeling very fortunate to come out of yesterday with no breaks & all my chiclets in tact. The [Red Sox] medical staff and [Lee Health] have been absolutely amazing & I’m going to be back out on the field as soon as possible!”

In the first inning of Monday’s contest at JetBlue Park, Turner took the first pitch he saw from Tigers right-hander Matt Manning — a fastball — off the left side of his face. The 38-year-old immediately fell to the ground and was quickly tended to by Red Sox manager Alex Cora and head trainer Brandon Henry.

Though he was bleeding heavily, Turner was able to get back on his feet under his own power and walked off the field while Henry held a towel to his face. He was then transported via ambulance to a Fort Myers-area hospital, where he received 16 stitches, according to his wife, Kourtney Turner. Kourtney also relayed on Twitter that her husband had a lot of swelling, but he had no fractures and his scans came back clean.

Turner was discharged from the hospital on Monday night and is back at home resting. When speaking with reporters (including The Eagle-Tribune’s Mac Cerullo) on Tuesday afternoon, Cora confirmed that there were no fractures and revealed that chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom visited Turner earlier in the morning.

“We were lucky,” Cora said. “He’s in good spirits, actually Chaim visited him this morning. Obviously the big laceration and the stitches and all that, but besides that … like I said, we’re lucky.”

Cora added that Manning’s pitch hit Turner right next to his nose and right under his left eye. He could not provide a specific timetable for when Turner could return to action, but it sounds like the worst-case scenario has been avoided.

Turner, a veteran of 14 major-league seasons, joined the Red Sox as a free agent in January after a decorated tenure with the Dodgers. The two-time All-Star signed a one-year deal with Boston that guarantees him $15 million and includes a player option for 2024.

With J.D. Martinez leaving the Red Sox for the Dodgers in free agency earlier this winter, Turner is expected to take over as Boston’s primary designated hitter in 2023. As a right-handed hitter, Turner could also complement Triston Casas and Rafael Devers — who both hit from the left side of the plate — and first and third base, respectively.

Since Opening Day (March 30 against the Orioles) is just over three weeks away, Turner’s status will be something worth monitoring as spring training continues.

(Picture of Justin Turner: Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

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Red Sox’ Justin Turner taken to hospital after after being hit in face by pitch

UPDATE: Turner’s wife, Kourtney, tweets that her husband has been discharged from the hospital and is back at home resting. She adds that Turner received 16 stitches and while there is a lot of swelling, there are no fractures and all scans came back clean.

In the first inning of Monday’s 7-1 win over the Tigers at JetBlue Park, Red Sox infielder Justin Turner left the game after taking a pitch from Detroit starter Matt Manning off the face.

Turner, who was batting third and starting at first base, took the first pitch he saw from Manning off the left side of his face with no outs in the third. The 38-year-old immediately fell to the ground and was tended to by Red Sox manager Alex Cora and head athletic trainer Brandon Henry.

Although he was bleeding heavily, Turner never appeared to lose consciousness. He was able to get back on his feet and walk off the field while Henry held a towel to his face. Niko Kavadas then came on to pinch-run for Turner, who was taken by ambulance to a Fort Myers-area hospital for treatment shortly thereafter.

At approximately 3:19 p.m. eastern time, the Red Sox issued an update regarding Turner’s status. It read: “Justin Turner was taken to a local hospital after being hit in the face by a pitch. He is receiving treatment for soft tissue injuries and is being monitored for a concussion. He will undergo further testing, and we’ll update as we have more information. Justin is stable, alert and in good spirits given the circumstances.”

Following Monday’s Grapefruit League contest, Cora reiterated to reporters (including MLB.com’s Ian Browne) that Turner was alert and in good spirits. He then indicated that Manning’s pitch hit Turner somewhere between the nose and just above the mouth.

“Anything that is above the shoulders, it’s always scary,” Cora said. “So you hear [it], you go and you just react. There was a lot of blood there. So it was just like, ‘Let’s get everybody there and try to help him out.’ He was coherent.”

Manning, for his part, apologized for what happened when speaking with members of the Detroit media (including Chris McCosky of The Detroit News). The 25-year-old right-hander took responsibility and relayed that he did not intend to hit Turner.

“Just a complete accident. The ball got away from me,” Manning said. “I got a swing and miss on a ball up in the zone and tried to go back to it. It got away from me. I definitely want to apologize to him and let him know it wasn’t intentional.”

As of now, it is not yet clear how much time, if any, Turner will miss following Monday’s incident. the Red Sox signed the former Dodgers star to a a one-year deal back in January that comes with $15 million in guaranteed money and a player option for 2024.

Coming into camp this spring, Turner projected to be Boston’s starting designated hitter and a right-handed hitting option at first and third base to complement the left-handed hitting duo of Triston Casas and Rafael Devers.

Since Opening Day is just weeks away now, what transpired on Monday could throw a wrench into those plans. With that being said, it seems likely that more information pertaining to Turner’s health will be made available at some point before Tuesday night’s game against the Braves in North Port.

“Hopefully he’s OK and he can join us sooner rather than later,” said Cora.

(Picture of Justin Turner: Megan Briggs/Getty Images)

Christian Arroyo hit by pitch: X-rays on Red Sox infielder’s left hand come back negative

In the first inning of the Red Sox’ 5-3 victory over the Mariners on Sunday, a scary moment arose with Christian Arroyo at the plate.

With one out and the bases loaded in a 4-1 game, Arroyo took a 1-2, 93.8 mph fastball from Drew Steckenrider off his left hand.

After pausing for a moment, the right-handed hitting infielder was clearly in pain as he shouted out and eventually went to a knee to assess the damage upon removing one of his batting gloves.

The fact Arroyo was experiencing that much discomfort prompted Red Sox manager Alex Cora and assistant athletic trainer Masai Takahashi to pay him a visit on the field.

Arroyo was able to remain in the game at second base, but it was apparent his left hand was still bothering him throughout the afternoon given how often he looked at it and was flexing it to evaluate his situation.

As soon as Sunday’s contest came to a close, the 25-year-old got X-rays on his hand, and those X-rays have since come back negative.

“[It] hurt pretty bad. But he was able to play defense,” Cora said of Arroyo during his postgame media availability. “I told him just, ‘Don’t worry about your at-bats. If you can play defense, just grind it out.’ And he did.”

Arroyo, who the Sox claimed off waivers from the Indians last August, does have a history of hand issues.

In 2017, when he was still a top prospect in the Giants organization, the Florida native missed the final two months of the minor-league season after sustaining a fractured left hand on a hit-by-pitch.

Taking that point into consideration, the Red Sox will likely want to see how Arroyo is holding up on Monday (an off day), and again on Tuesday before determining if he will be available for Tuesday night’s series opener against the Mets in Flushing.

The former first-round draft pick has been solid in his first full season in Boston, slashing .296/.345/.426 with seven doubles and four RBI over 17 games while primarily playing second base.

As noted by The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier, Arroyo wasn’t even in Cora’s original starting lineup for Sunday’s finale against the Mariners.

Alex Verdugo was initially going to start in center while Enrique Hernandez was going to start at second, but due to wet conditions on a rainy day in the Fenway area, Verdugo was scratched approximately one hour before first pitch on account of the hamstring cramp he had sustained on Saturday.

“He was in the lineup but then obviously the conditions weren’t perfect,” said Cora in regards to Verdugo. “(Head trainer) Brad (Pearson) came down and talked to me a little bit about it. So I decided to scratch him.”

With Verdugo scratched, Hernandez moved to center, which led to Arroyo getting the unexpected start at second.

(Picture of Christian Arroyo: Kathryn Riley/Getty Images)