Albert Almora Jr. wants to see some change in MLB so he never goes through another experience like he endured on Wednesday again.
Almora hit a foul ball during his at-bat in the top of the fourth inning of the Chicago Cubs’ 2-1 win in Houston that struck a young child. Almora was an emotional wreck after hitting the child and struck out in his at-bat. He later cried on the shoulder of a security guard.
“As soon I hit it, the first person I locked eyes on was (the young girl) … the rest of the at-bat was kind of a blur. I finally came to my senses after the next half-inning. When that half-inning was over, I just couldn’t keep it in any more,” Almora said after the game.
“Obviously I want to put a net around the whole stadium.”
Almora’s teammate, Kris Bryant, said MLB needs to extend the netting further down lines.
Following the awful incident with a child getting hit by a ball in the Cubs-Astros game, Kris Bryant was unequivocal, telling ESPN that Major League Baseball needs to extend netting further down the lines to prevent hard-hit balls rocketing into the stands and injuring fans.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) May 30, 2019
All 30 MLB teams took steps prior to the 2018 season to extend the netting around the field to protect against foul balls striking fans. Each team was allowed to decide how much netting they wanted in their stadium.
“It’s an important change for us,” Commissioner Rob Manfred said at the time. “The safety and security of our fans in the ballpark is obviously really, really important to us.”
MLB did not create a league-wide rule regarding protective netting but may be compelled to do so now.
The child who was hit is reportedly expected to be OK, but that hasn’t impacted Almora’s feelings on the matter.
