Athletics rookie infielder Joshua Kuroda-Grauer had a night to remember on Monday, and not entirely for great reasons.
Kuroda-Grauer hit his first-ever home run in the big leagues with a solo shot in the second inning of the game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field in Phoenix, Ariz.
Three innings later, the 22-year-old Kuroda-Grauer got taken down by a foul ball that hit ricocheted off his bat and into his groin.
He immediately collapsed to the ground and stayed there for several minutes in clear pain.
However, he managed to finish his at-bat and lined out into center field.
Here is the video of that painful moment and Kuroda-Grauer’s valiant effort to continue his plate appearance.
"No balls and one strike"
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) July 21, 2026
Joshua Kuroda-Grauer fouled a ball directly off his nuts, then recovered and got a base knock pic.twitter.com/wtFcxBXjKd
The Athletics later replaced Kuroda-Grauer on defense in the bottom of the sixth inning with Donovan Walton.
The A’s did not provide an update on the exact nature of Kuroda-Grauer’s injury, but manager Mark Kotsay was hopeful that the rookie did not suffer anything serious.
“Unfortunate event for KG,” Kotsay said after the game, via Martín Gallegos of MLB.com. “He tried to stay in and battle. Right now, the big concern is [to make sure] there’s no significant injury to him. We’ll have further notice later on tonight, but, hopefully, things are OK.”
Kuroda-Grauer is off to a strong start to his MLB career, hitting .417/.435/.583 through 16 games this season for the Athletics, who went on to beat the Diamondbacks, 5-2.
