The Daily Beast – As right-handed pitcher Ryan Feltner spent Saturday night in a local hospital after being hit in the head by a line drive, his Rockies teammates and Phillies opponents kept him in their thoughts.
Nick Castellanos’ 92.7 mph liner in the second inning of the Phillies’ 7-4 victory struck Feltner just above the right ear. After being attended to for several minutes on the mound, Feltner was able to walk off the field.
“He’s under observation at a local hospital, undergoing a litany of exams and tests — we’ll know more in the morning,” Rockies manager Bud Black said.
Before his press conference, Black relayed the information he had to teammates who were still stunned by what they saw.
“It was a slider away and Castellanos barreled it up,” third baseman Ryan McMahon said. “It happened so quick. But it was good to see him walk off. He was a little dazed, for sure.
“As soon as the ball hit him, I don’t even know where the ball went. All eyes went to him.”
Catcher Elias Díaz said, “I just saw the ball hit his head — I didn’t know where. I asked him how he felt and just said, ‘Stay there. Stay down.’ It was something crazy.”
It’s the third injury to a Rockies starter in short order. Righty Germán Márquez underwent season-ending Tommy John surgery on his right elbow on Friday.
Antonio Senzatela left Wednesday’s start at Pittsburgh with what has been diagnosed as a sprained ulnar collateral ligament in the right elbow. But Saturday’s injury to Feltner was one of those rare and concerning sights.
The Phillies led, 4-0, as Feltner struggled with control with four first-inning walks. Bryce Harper — whose two-run shot in the top of the ninth put the game away in much the same way his two-run double on Friday made the difference in a Phillies win — doubled with two outs in the second before Castellanos came up.
“It happens, and then I felt like I was running to first base because it was my job,” Castellanos said. “Instantly what I thought was, like, ‘Holy [expletive], I hit him.’ There was a part of me that wanted to go to the mound, but I guess the baseball player takes over and you go to first.
“As soon as I touched first, I turned around and was just really hoping that what happened didn’t happen.”
As Feltner dealt with the pain, it didn’t matter which uniform a player was wearing.
“We don’t want anybody to get hurt in that way,” Díaz said. “We are baseball players, we’ve got different uniforms, but we’re still human.”
WATCH THE VIDEO BELOW:
Frightening moment in Colorado, as Ryan Feltner gets hit with a comebacker on the mound. Feltner exited on his own power. pic.twitter.com/9VbghmNNMe
— Casey Drottar (@CDrottar19) May 14, 2023
one of the most talented pitchers I have ever seen (Herb Score) was hit in the head by a line drive by Gil Mcdougal. Neither have ever been the same in terms of the baseball on the field careers. I hope Mr. Feltner and Mr. Castellanos will both be ok and resume the game that they and we all love.