Count this one among the strangest injuries you’ll ever see on a baseball field.
Colorado Rockies designated hitter Charlie Blackmon was minding his business running toward first base during Friday’s game against the San Diego Padres when infielder Xander Bogaerts’ pitch ricocheted off his arm and then hit his left eye.
Blackmon was examined by assistant coach Heath Townsend, who administered a vision test, along with manager Bud Black. They removed Blackmon from the game because of what the Rockies called a contusion to his left eye.
At the time, it seemed as bad as it sounded.
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The crazy thing is, the next day, Blackmon still managed to avoid the injured list. He showed up at Petco Park in San Diego on Saturday, hoping to get back in the lineup without missing a game.
Speaking to SportRelay.com, Blackmon’s description of the injury sounded horrific: “It felt like my eye had exploded,” he said.
Blackmon, a fast runner, was going to be tough to pick off on the ground ball between first and second base in the third inning of Friday’s game. Bogaerts, who played shortstop before this season, appeared to throw the ball to Jake Cronenworth.
The shot missed Cronenworth’s outstretched glove, hit Blackmon in the head and then bounced off his face, hitting his eye. The 38-year-old immediately collapsed.
After the game, Blackmon told SportRadar.com, “I feel pretty good,” noting that the ball didn’t hit him “that hard” when it hit his eye.
“I think I was lucky, to be honest,” he said.
Blackmon is hitting .255 with a .736 OPS this season. He is in his 14th major league season, all with the Rockies.
Rockies outfielder named player of the month
Rockies outfielder Brenton Doyle was named National League player of the month for July on Saturday.
The 26-year-old hit .333 (30-for-90) with 11 homers, 27 RBIs, seven doubles, one triple, nine walks, 15 runs scored, two stolen bases, an .800 slugging percentage and a .394 on-base percentage in 25 games last month.
The Virginia native led the major leagues in extra-base hits (19); tied for the major league lead in home runs; tied for second in RBIs; tied for third in total bases (72); and ranked fourth in slugging and OPS (1.194).
A Gold Glove winner last year, Doyle became the first Colorado player to hit at least 11 homers in a month since CJ Cron in August 2021.
Doyle had hits in seven consecutive games from July 12-22.
