A scary scene unraveled during Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Arizona Diamondbacks in Phoenix on Friday night.
In the seventh-inning, Pirates reliever Johnny Barbato accidentally drilled Diamondbacks catcher Chris Iannetta directly in the face with a 93-mph fastball to the absolute shock of everyone in Chase Field.
Chris Iannetta pasó el susto de su vida… @Dbacks pic.twitter.com/E3kkbjoXXB
— 12up (@12up_ES) May 13, 2017
On Saturday evening, the Diamondbacks updated the masses on Iannetta’s condition via Twitter.
Chris Iannetta received stitches in his upper lip & suffered a couple of fractured teeth and a nose fracture. He is still being evaluated.
— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) May 13, 2017
Torey Lovullo: “He’s doing ok…he said he could play tonight if he needed to.” #Dbacks
— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) May 13, 2017
Unfortunately, there’s no good way to avoid a similar situation from happening again.
The majority of MLB players will never agree to wearing a helmet with a cage in the front, and pitchers are going to lose control from time to time.