Houston Astros catcher Max Stassi had an incredibly memorable first week in the Major Leagues, and we don’t neccesarily mean that in a good way. Sure, the 22-year-old recorded his first MLB hit and picked up his first big league RBI, but his accomplishments came at a steep price.
On Tuesday, Stassi committed an embarrassing mental error when he was tagged out at second base because he lost track of the baseball. Wednesday night was even more painful (literally), as Stassi took a fastball to the face with the bases loaded. Being hit by a pitch gave him his first RBI with the Astros, but I’m sure there are plenty of other ways he envisioned that going down.
We don’t see batters taking pitches to the face very often, which is a good thing. However, Stassi happened to get drilled just hours after Atlanta Braves outfielder Jason Heyward took a ball to the jaw. Twitter rumblings indicate that Stassi’s X-rays came back negative, but Heyward fractured his jaw in two places and had to have surgery on Thursday.
Here’s hoping both players enjoy a speedy recovery and that we have seen the last of pitches to the face for a long time.
GIF via Deadspin
