At just 22 years old, Nolan Schanuel has suffered an injury that would make a man of any age wince.
The Los Angeles Angels first baseman Schanuel got hurt in the third inning of Saturday’s game against the Boston Red Sox when he fouled a ball off his groin area. Schanuel left the game with the injury and did not return as the Angels went on to lose 7-2.
It turns out though that the foul ball was especially foul. Angels manager Ron Washington told reporters after the game that Schanuel had suffered a testicular contusion on the play. As a result, Schanuel won’t play in Sunday’s series finale against Boston but at least will not go on IL, per Jeff Fletcher of the OC Register.
Nobody ever wants to suffer an injury. But that one has to be particularly undesirable. Unfortunately, it is far from the first time that we have seen such an ailment in baseball.
Schanuel, the Angels’ first-round draft pick just last year, already got a figurative shot to the groin from Major League Baseball earlier this month. Now he has regrettably gotten a literal one to go along with it as well.