Over the course of a baseball season, you see freakish things happen. What occurred to Stephen Piscotty last night is one of those things. Unfortunately, it would end with him being evaluated for a head contusion.
Entering this season, Piscotty played part of 2015 and enjoyed a decent full season last year. He signed to a big contract with the St. Louis Cardinals to stay with them. It started midway through the game in the bottom of the 5th. Against the Chicago Cubs, Cub pitcher Jake Arrieta plunked him in the arm. He shrugged it off and went to first base. A pitch a couple batters later from Arietta gets away from the catcher Willson Contreras and Piscotty heads off to second. He slides down and gets hit again in the other arm. You would think it would end at that point, but it didn't.
A short hit leads to a few miscues from the Cubs infield to get the guy out at first. Noticing Piscotty heading for home, they throw to home and hit him in the helmet. While it gave the Cardinals a run, it was a costly one. The team got him off the field and sent him for evaluation for the head contusion. The early reports have been said that he has been evaluated for a concussion and is able to get back on the field, which won't be today because of all the thunderstorms and tornadoes occurring in the Midwest and South.
What a price to pay for last night. Usually managers worry about getting hit three times in a month, not in an inning. Thank goodness for the helmet. Some of the National League teams have gone the length of protecting faces following the wake of Giancarlo Stanton getting plunked in the face back in 2014. We have come a long way to ensure the safety of not just the players, but the fans, too. That being said, fans do have to keep eye on the action even with stuff like protective netting at home and the corners.
For as much as I hate the Cardinals, that shouldn't have happened. Hopefully, it doesn't again.
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