Pirates' Joey Bart Scratched After Getting Hit In Head By Batting Practice Ball While In Bullpen

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There are plenty of ways to get hurt playing baseball but you'd think there would be virtually no chance anyone would be unlucky enough to get injured by having a home run ball plunk them while they're in the bullpen.

However, that's exactly what happened to Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Joey Bart.

According to The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Bart was scratched from the Pirates lineup just an hour before the first pitch on Wednesday against the New York Mets, a game they went on to lose 9-1.

It then came out that the reason Bart had been scratched was because he had been hit by a home run during batting practice while catching in the bullpen a few days earlier. 

"So this is very strange," manager Derek Shelton said. "He got hit in the head the other day catching in the bullpen — from a home run during batting practice."

Didn't anyone yell "fore" when they realized that the ball was headed straight for the bullpen? Apparently not.

However, the Pirates thought that Bart — who was acquired from the San Francisco Giants earlier this season in a trade — would be good to go on Wednesday, but obviously, that was not the case.

Pirates catcher Joey Bart was ruled out of Wednesday's game because he wasn't feeling well after getting hit by a batting practice ball while catching in the bullpen. (© David Dermer-USA TODAY Sports)

"We thought he was fine. He came in today. He felt fine. Then, as we got closer to game time, he didn’t feel as well. So I just pulled him out of an abundance of caution, just because he didn’t feel very well."

According to CBS Sports, neither Shelton nor the Pirates organization have indicated that he is currently in concussion protocol. 

Whatever the case, the Pirates will hope he gets on the mend in a hurry because since arriving in Pittsburgh the 27-year-old former first-round pick has played well, especially offensively.

In 10 at-bats as a Pirate, Bart has 4 hits including a home run in his first at-bat with the team.
 

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Matt is a University of Central Florida graduate and a long-suffering Philadelphia Flyers fan living in Orlando, Florida. He can usually be heard playing guitar, shoe-horning obscure quotes from The Simpsons into conversations, or giving dissertations to captive audiences on why Iron Maiden is the greatest band of all time.