San Diego Padres designated hitter Luis Arraez was carted off the field in the first inning of Sunday night’s game against the host Houston Astros after being involved in a fierce collision.
The incident featuring the three-time batting champion led to an 11-minute delay before the resumption of play. Arraez, 28, was taken to a nearby hospital.
“Luis Arraez has been transported to Houston Methodist Hospital for further evaluation,” the Padres announced during the top of the second inning. “He is currently stable, conscious, responsive, and able to move his extremities.”
After Fernando Tatis Jr., led off the game with a walk, Arraez put down a drag bunt that caused Houston first baseman Christian Walker to head to his right to field the ball. Astros second baseman Mauricio Dubon went to cover first base and caught the underhand toss from Walker for the out, but he and Arraez arrived at the same time and crashed into each other.
Dubon had the momentum and his shoulder and arm slammed hard into the face of Arraez, who went sprawling and hit his head on the turf. He rolled on to his left side and barely moved over the next several minutes.
Trainers from both teams attended to Arraez and they called for a cart. Several minutes later, Arraez was put on a stretcher and lifted on to the cart. Arraez lifted his right thumb into the air while the cart slowly moved down the right-field line.
“That was scary,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said during an in-game interview with ESPN. “We don’t see a lot of those kind of collisions in our sport. Louie is a really, really tough guy and to see him down like that, you know it’s very serious. He took a pretty good blow.
“He’s stable now and has feeling in his extremities. He’s aware of what took place, which is clearly good. They’re worried that he has a bit of a cut on the jaw and worried about the stability of (the jaw). And his cervical (spine), making sure it’s stable as well.”
Arraez is batting .287 with three homers and seven RBIs this season.
Gavin Sheets replaced Arraez as the designated hitter.
–Field Level Media
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