Milwaukee Brewers starting pitcher Jacob Junis was rushed to the hospital after being hit in the neck by a ball during batting practice on Monday, the team announced on Twitter.
Junis was “conscious, alert and responsive. He was sent to the hospital for further tests,” the tweet said.
Brewers pitcher Jacob Junis was hit in the neck by a ball during batting practice. He is conscious, alert and responsive. He was sent to the hospital for further tests.
— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) April 22, 2024
This crazy series of events is extremely rare. Injured during batting practice? Are you talking about practice?
I can’t really remember though Until now I heard about a player who was injured during batting practice. A little muscle adjustment? perhaps. But a perfect ball to the neck? How could that happen? It is extremely rare for a major league pitcher to give live batting practice to his team’s batters. Especially during the season. Junis’ injury here is a prime example. (Related article: “College player Ohtani” causing a stir with his astonishing home run streak)
Junis, signed by the Brewers in the offseason, was already on the disabled list and had not pitched since April 2 due to a shoulder injury. For the veteran right-hander, his life has only added insult to injury.
Junis is coming off the best season of his career statistically. He posted a sub-4 ERA in 2023 with the San Francisco Giants despite pitching only 86 innings. However, his 10 strikeouts per nine innings was also a career high, indicating an upward trend for the 31-year-old hurler.
Here’s wishing the old Double J all the best. You wouldn’t want to see a man’s career go downhill because of some weird occurrence like this.
