Broken bats can be a dangerous byproduct of playing baseball. Often, the hazard is more associated with pitchers and fielders having to dodge pieces of shattered wood than the hitters themselves. On Saturday, however, we got a reminder that the hitter can have it tough too.
New York Yankees third baseman Gio Urshela appeared to get a fragment of his shattered bat stuck in his right eye after swinging and hitting a ground ball during Saturday’s game against the Oakland Athletics. The A’s were able to turn a double play on the softly-hit grounder because Urshela was slow getting down to first due to the issue.
Gio Urshela gets splinters in his eye from a broken bat which results in a double play. Hope Gio’s OK. pic.twitter.com/YvUIEpWBiD
— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) June 19, 2021
This is actually pretty scary. Urshela reacts almost instantly, and it’s kind of impressive that he had the presence of mind to run at all.
Urshela did remain in the game in spite of the eye issue.
Gio Urshela is staying in the game after appearing to get a fragment of a broken bat in his eye.
— Bryan Hoch (@BryanHoch) June 19, 2021
We get the occasional reminder that broken bats are a major occupational hazard for hitters and infielders alike. Hopefully Urshela is okay.
