LA Angels Shoemaker suffers skull fracture after being hit in head
The LA Angels have been hit so much by the injury bug it just seems like you’re always waiting for the next player to go down. Unfortunately on Sunday afternoon disaster struck again as Matt Shoemaker was hit in the head by a line drive by the Mariners Kyle Seager and he suffered a small skull fracture.
The game started off good for the LA Angels as they scored two runs in the first inning on Albert Pujols and C.J. Cron back-to-back home runs that gave the Angels and Mat Shoemaker an early 2-0 lead. With one out in the bottom of the second Seager hit a line drive right back up the middle and Shoemaker had no time to react, he just turned to his side on his follow through and the ball hit him on the right side of his head with a velocity of 105 miles per hour.
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When Seager reached first base he just stared at the fallen Shoemaker. The whole Angels training staff, manager Mike Scioscia, and pitching coach Charles Nagy along with all the Angels infielders rushed to Shoemaker’s side. While the trainers attended to Shoemaker a hush fell over the whole stadium. Mike Trout and Kole Calhoun also made their way in from the outfield. Seager also slowly walked over to the fallen pitcher as the training staff attended to Shoemaker.
After a few minutes Shoemaker was helped to his feet and was able to walk off the field under his own power. As he walked off he gave the crowd a thumbs up sign and the Seattle crowd responded with a standing ovation.
Shoemaker was taken to a local Seattle hospital where he underwent a CT Scan which reveleaed a small skull fracture as well as a small hematoma which will most likely knock him out for the rest of the season. Shoemaker will see a neurologist tonight and will spend the night in the hospital for observation.
The encouraging news out of all of this is that Shoemaker never lost consciousness during the whole situation. He also was speaking an interacting with medical staff after he was taken to the hospital, according to Angels Vice-President of Communications Tim Mead.
Matt Shoemaker update: Initial readings of CT scan indicate small skull fracture & small hematoma. He will see a neurologist today. #Angels
Matt is speaking, interacting & doing well considering the trauma. Will spend night in hospital for continued observation. #Angels
With Shoemaker lost for the season, it leaves only Jered Weaver left of the original rotation that started the season. Shoemaker after a slow start and an early season trip to the minors has been the Angels most consistent pitcher. Since being recalled in the second week of May, Shoemaker has a 2.73 ERA with an 8-8 record. He has lowered his ERA from 9.12 to 3.88 and has 14 quality starts in 22 opportunities.
The Angels bullpen picked Shoemaker up after his departure holding the Mariners to two runs in 7.2 innings as the Angels took the final game of the series 4-2. Although the team was happy to get a victory their thoughts were on their fallen teammate.
“When you see it square someone up like that it’s scary,” Angels catcher Jett Bandy said in a post-game interview with reporters. “The first thing that comes to mind is his health. He’s a human being. He’s a dad. He’s a husband. Our thoughts and prayers go out to him.”
“The fact that Matty was conscious and all the reactions were what they were supposed to be in the assessment, I think we can exhale a little bit.,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said in his interview with reporters after the game. “Just to get him up and walking off the field let you feel a little bit better about what could’ve happened. And it’s tough, it’s tough.”
The Angels took the series finale from the Mariners thanks to the strong effort from the bullpen. They will now travel to Oakland to take on the A’s for three-games starting tomorrow afternoon. However, their thoughts will be back in Seattle with Shoemaker.
Other notes of interest.
As if Shoemaker’s injury wasn’t enough, top pitching prospect Nate Smith, who was most likely going to receive a call-up later this week came out of his start today early after two innings with elbow soreness and will be shut down for the rest of the season.
Cody Ege and Andrew Bailey two recent Angels call-ups helped preserve the Angels lead as Ege pitched a strong 7th despite giving up a home run to Robinson Cano. Bailey pitched a scoreless 9th inning for his first save since 2013.
One final note of interest is that Tim Lincecum pitched seven strong innings giving up only one run with no walks and five strikeouts. Lincecum threw 96 pitches with 61 strikes. Lincecum is hoping to get one more chance with the Angels to show what he can do. We will see if he gets called up after the Salt Lake City season ends later this week.
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