CHICAGO — Less than 24 hours after being hit in the face by a line drive, Oakland Athletics pitcher Chris Bassitt had a return on his mind.
“From the bottom of my heart, I’d like to thank the White Sox and Athletics staff, front offices, and owners,” Bassitt wrote Wednesday on Twitter. “The support my family and I’ve received has been overwhelming. I’d also like to thank Rush University Medical Center and their staff. God is good. Can’t wait to get back!”
The scary incident occurred during the second inning of Tuesday’s Chicago White Sox-A’s game at Guaranteed Rate Field. Sox outfielder Brian Goodwin hit a liner with a 100.1-mph exit velocity, according to MLB Statcast, that struck Bassitt.
He received stitches for two facial cuts and was diagnosed with a displaced tripod fracture in his right cheek that will require surgery, the A’s said in a statement Wednesday.
Bassitt was released from Rush University Medical Center on Tuesday night. An exam of his right eye was normal, and “no other damage is currently noted in the eye or the orbital bone,” according to the statement.
A head CT scan revealed no further injuries.
“Myself and others on the team have been able to communicate with him via text,” A’s manager Bob Melvin told Oakland reporters before Wednesday’s game against the Sox. “He knows how concerned everybody is about him. Like he is, he kind of tried to deflect and say, ‘I’m fine, don’t worry about me, I’ll be back soon.’
“He is a tough, tough guy.”
Bassitt, 32, has been one of the more productive pitchers in baseball this season with an American League-leading 12 wins. He made the All-Star team for the first time in his career.
Sox reliever Liam Hendriks, who pitched for the A’s from 2016-20, was among the players reaching out via text.
“Obviously just thankful there’s no lingering issues or anything like that going on,” Hendriks said. “Thoughts and prayers to make sure he’s doing all right and we’ve offered anything they need.”
Goodwin tweeted Tuesday, “You are in my prayers for sure, brother.”
“I went up to (Goodwin) and he was OK, he understands and he was dealing with it,” Sox manager Tony La Russa said Wednesday. “A lot of teammates reached out to him. You see it happen. It’s just like when somebody gets beaned, nobody likes it and everybody’s concerned. The game goes on, but in Brian’s case, if you’re a pitcher and you threw the ball and you bean somebody, you have some kind of accountability there. But for a hitter, you just hit it, you can’t aim it. It’s somewhat different.”
Bassitt was taken away on a cart.
“It affects everybody,” La Russa said. “Chris doesn’t just have a profession, he has a personal life, he’s got a professional career. Everybody’s very sympathetic, whether it’s if you have a serious injury — a lot of guys reached out to Eloy (Jiménez after suffering a ruptured left pectoral tendon) in spring training and so forth.
“Injuries are part of the game. The ones that are, I would say, routine, they happen frequently, but when you have something that’s more serious, man, it shakes everybody up.”
Melvin gave a “shout-out” to Sox Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf for his support and contributions.
“Being there and seeing it firsthand, yes, it was hard,” Melvin said. “Throughout the entire game, all of us, and afterward, our concerns were with Chris and hopefully that he was moving along the path that he is right now. We’re all relieved.”
Hendriks had his former teammate on his mind. And a current teammate too.
“Knowing him pretty well and the family pretty well, (and) also we’ve got guys in the clubhouse who have had (it) happen to, in (reliever) Evan Marshall (in 2015 while pitching for the Arizona Diamondbacks Triple-A affiliate),” Hendriks said. “We’ve got guys who have kind of gone through these things and it brings up bad memories for them as well. You never want to see a guy go down or anything happen above the ears, especially as a pitcher, where you don’t really have too much chance to do anything else.
“But obviously one of the better-case scenarios in the fact that there’s no lingering issues, knock on wood, through everything that goes on. Just hoping for the best with everything that goes on.”
