Oakland A’s pitcher Chris Bassitt was released from a Chicago hospital Tuesday night, with doctors determining that he had sustained a fractured cheekbone when he was struck in the head by a line drive.
Bassitt “received stitches for two facial lacerations and was diagnosed with a displaced tripod fracture in his right cheek that will require surgery,” the A’s said in a statement. “An exam of his right eye was normal for vision and no other damage is currently noted in the eye or the orbital bone. In addition, a head CT scan revealed no further injury. We are grateful to the White Sox, their medical staff and the doctors and nurses at Rush [University Medical Center] for their excellent care.”
His agents expressed gratitude in a statement: “Chris will be better than ever and back to doing what he loves soon and thanks everyone for their prayers and support. Things like this remind us that in most ways we are of one heart and one mind.”
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The A’s, in their initial update Tuesday night, said the 32-year-old starter was “conscious and aware” as he was taken to a hospital. After the game, a 9-0 White Sox win, A’s Manager Bob Melvin said the team believed Bassitt had avoided an eye injury because the ball struck below his eye. “He’s got some cuts. They had to do some stitches,” Melvin said. “He’s in a scan and we’ll know more about potential fractures or whatever tomorrow, or later tonight.”
Bassitt was struck on the right side of his head after throwing a fastball on a 1-1 count to Chicago’s Brian Goodwin, who drove it back up the middle, in the second inning of the game in Chicago’s Guaranteed Rate Field. Bassitt immediately fell to the ground and put his hands to his face as medical staffers came out to the mound to attend to him. Players for both teams showed concern.
After being placed on the cart, Bassitt held a towel over his face. Observers noted that a large amount of blood was visible.
According to NBC Bay Area, Bassitt’s wife and young daughter were at the game, and his wife reportedly joined him at the hospital.
Goodwin later tweeted a message to Bassitt. “Most definitely, Chris, you are in my prayers for sure brother.”
Bassitt, a 16th-round draft pick by the White Sox in 2011 out of the University of Akron, reached the majors with the Sox in 2014. He was traded to the A’s following that season, and after posting a 2.29 ERA in 2020, he made his first all-star team this year. Bassitt entered Tuesday’s game with a 3.06 ERA, and his 12 wins (against three losses), 24 starts and 150 innings pitched were all league-leading marks. Over his past 15 starts, he had gone 9-1 with a 2.61 ERA.
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After the game, a former teammate of Bassitt’s, White Sox infielder Jake Lamb, told reporters: “It’s a lot more than baseball at that point. It’s a friend, it’s an old teammate. Any time you get hit in the head like that, it’s a very, very scary situation.”
“When you see something like that, it’s hard to digest,” said White Sox starter Reynaldo López, “because we as [pitchers], we know that that can happen. It’s like, that could happen to me, and it’s scary. Every time you see something like that is tough to swallow.”
A’s players were not made available after the game. “I’m trying to think if there’s anything scarier than that,” White Sox Manager Tony La Russa said (via NBC Chicago). “There was like a dark cloud around that game the whole time. … There isn’t anybody out there that wasn’t worried about him, and it didn’t matter whether you had your uniform on or theirs. The game goes on, you just have to play, but nobody’s oblivious to the potential danger.”
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For Oakland fans, the scene was a frightening reminder of a 2012 incident in which A’s pitcher Brandon McCarthy was struck on the right side of the head by a line drive during a game against the Los Angeles Angels. McCarthy walked off the field but later required emergency brain surgery. McCarthy pitched the following season with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
That same year, Detroit Tigers pitcher Doug Fister shrugged off a drive to the head and stayed in a World Series game, prompting conversation about whether pitchers should wear helmets or Kevlar liners under their caps. And Bartolo Colon of the A’s was hospitalized after he was hit in the mouth in a minor league game in the Dominican Republic.
The idea of having pitchers wear helmets on the mound has come up, but players have been reluctant do so. However, at the other end of an at-bat, hitters have come to embrace C-flap helmets over the last few years, with pitchers throwing harder than ever.
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