Milwaukee Brewer Willy Adames Gets Foul Ball To Face In Scary Incident

Milwaukee Brewers shortstop Willy Adames spent the night in the hospital after taking a foul ball to the side of the head Friday.

But the prognosis is a good one.

"He was alert and responsive as he left, and then we got pretty good news at the hospital, too," Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. "Obviously, he's in pain. But I think overall I think not bad news, considering how scary it was."

Adames suffered no fractures but remained at the hospital overnight for observation, according to Counsell.

The scary moment occurred in the bottom of the second inning when Brian Anderson sent a 90mph line drive straight into the Milwaukee dugout. The game stopped for several minutes while medical staff tended to Adames.

"I heard it and I knew it hit somebody," Counsell said. “I didn’t know who it hit but I knew it hit somebody. Willy didn’t really react that much initially, to be honest with you. He just went and sat down. Then you realized what happened, and then it was really scary."

Anderson grounded out to short before hustling into the tunnel to check on his teammate.

Counsell said he felt for Anderson.

"You feel awful," Counsell said. "It's just an accident. It's bad luck. Unfortunately, it's one of your teammates. Some bad things happen in the game sometimes. It was not fun to be a part of."

After that, the game simply got away from the Brewers, as they fell 15-1 to the San Francisco Giants.

(Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)

Adames will be placed on IL with a concussion. And the team will hope to get him back soon.

Adames has been the Brewers' most productive hitter since being traded to the team in May 2021. He won club MVP honors in both 2021 and 2022 and led the team in home runs, RBIs, hits, doubles, walks, runs and games played — including all 51 games so far in 2023. 

"I've always said it: Willy is the catalyst for this team," Brewers infielder Mike Brosseau said. "What he brings to this team, what he means to this team, to see him go down like that and really not have anybody know the severity of it, it's pretty scary, pretty frightening."

The Brewers expected Adames to be released from the hospital Saturday morning.