Reds’ Aroldis Chapman Has Surgery, Could Return in 4 to 6 Weeks

Cincinnati Reds closer Aroldis Chapman, who was hit in the head by a line drive off the bat of the Kansas City Royals’ Salvador Perez in a spring training game the night of March 19th, had surgery on March 20th to repair a skull fracture above his left eye. Here’s video of the horrific incident:

Chapman also suffered a broken nose and a mild concussion, but thankfully there were no other brain injuries or eye injuries. Chapman may be able to start working out in two weeks, and could possibly be playing again in 4-6 weeks. The 26 year old Cuban native is about as hard a thrower as you’ll find anywhere, with a fastball clocked as high as 105 miles per hour.

Fortunately, incidents like this are rare in major league baseball, but they are memorable when they do happen. Last year, pitcher Alex Cobb of the Tampa Bay Rays missed two months of the season after taking a liner to the head off the bat of the Royals’ Eric Hosmer, and in September 2012, Oakland A’s pitcher Brandon McCarthy was hit in the head by a line drive off the bat of the Los Angeles Angels’ Erick Aybar. McCarthy suffered a brain contusion requiring surgery. He signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks for the 2013 season, but suffered a seizure related to the injury in June. He was 5-11 with a 4.53 ERA for the Diamondbacks in 2013, but has pitched well in spring training in 2014.