Willie Calhoun Hospitalized After Being Hit in the Face by Pitch
Texas Rangers outfielder Willie Calhoun was hospitalized on Sunday after getting drilled in the face by a 95-mph fastball. It was later announced that Calhoun had suffered a fractured jaw and that he would undergo further testing on Monday.
Update on Willie Calhoun who was hit in the mouth area by a Julio Urias pitch in today’s game. As a result, A CT scan and examination revealed he has a fracture of his jaw. He to undergo further evaluation on Monday.
— John Blake (@RangerBlake) March 8, 2020
Calhoun, 25, was acquired by the Rangers in the trade that sent Yu Darvish to the Los Angeles Dodgers. In 2019, Calhoun had his best season at the major league level. As a result, he posted a .269/.323/.524 slash line to go along with 21 home runs (110 wRC+). He came into spring training as the team’s starting left fielder and was also expecting to get some starts as the designated hitter.
The Injury
The injury occurred in the first inning of Sunday afternoon’s Cactus League game against the Dodgers. With a 1-1 count, a 95-mph fastball got away from Dodgers starter Julio Urias, striking Calhoun’s jaw. Calhoun immediately fell to all fours and appeared to be spitting out blood. After about 10 minutes, he walked with assistance to a medical cart while holding a towel over his face. From there, he was transported by helicopter to Dignity Health St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix, Arizona. Rangers manager Chris Woodward drove to the hospital to accompany Calhoun.
Scary moment here as Willie Calhoun takes a pitch right off the jaw pic.twitter.com/C1Ep4nhg0v
— Blake Harris (@BlakeHarrisTBLA) March 8, 2020
According to Sports Illustrated, Calhoun usually wears a protective extension on the batting helmet that protects the jaw and face. But unfortunately for Calhoun, he was not wearing the protection in Sunday’s game.
“He’s usually wearing his flap, but he hasn’t worn it,” teammate Joey Gallo said. “It was tough to play after that.”
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