Alex Cobb Sustains Scary Head Injury After Being Hit with Line Drive

Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Alex Cobb was hit in the head with a line drive off the bat of Kansas City Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer on Saturday afternoon.

UPDATE Monday June 17 at 12 58 p.m. ET by Eric Ball

End of update

UPDATE Saturday June 15 at 7 33 p.m. ET by Ian Hanford

According to CBS' Eye on Baseball Cobb sustained a mild concussion

Rays have announced Alex Cobb has a mild concussion. Seems pretty fortunate after how hard the ball hit his head

Eye on Baseball ( EyeOnBaseball) June 15 2013

MLB also noted that all tests came back normal

Rays say RHP Alex Cobb was diagnosed with a mild concussion and all tests came back normal.

MLB ( MLB) June 15 2013

End of update

He would leave the game on a stretcher at Tropicana Field.

MLB had the tweet as the scary scene unfolded in the top half of the fifth inning

Scary moment at Tropicana Field Rays RHP Alex Cobb hit in head by line drive being tended to on field and will be taken off on stretcher.

MLB ( MLB) June 15 2013

Cobb who was drafted out of high school by the Rays in the fourth round back in 2006 cracked the majors in 2011 and had made 44 starts for the franchise before his Saturday afternoon outing.

After delivering the pitch Cobb had no time to react as the ball was scorched off Hosmer's bat. The ball ricocheted off Cobb's head and back to catcher Jose Lobaton who fired to first to complete the out.

As you can see in MLB.com video of the incident baseball is a dangerous game for pitchers these days. (Note Replay has potentially upsetting images.)

Grantland's Jonah Keri added this tweet as we send thoughts and prayers to the 25 year old starting pitcher

Velocity of ball hit by Eric Hosmer that struck Alex Cobb in the head 102.4 mph.

Jonah Keri ( jonahkeri) June 15 2013

For the year Cobb has a 6 2 record with an ERA of 3.01 following the results of his first four innings against the Royals. His WAR among starting pitchers (2.2) is 10th in the AL.

MLB later tweeted this statement concerning Cobb's status

Rays say RHP Alex Cobb was struck on right ear remained conscious the entire time and was taken to a local hospital.

MLB ( MLB) June 15 2013

In a disturbing trend in MLB this isn't the first time we've seen a pitcher hit in the head with a line drive this season. Toronto Blue Jays starter J.A. Happ was also hit in the head in a May game against the Rays and he suffered a skull fracture as a result (via ESPN).

We'd like to send out a note of encouragement to Cobb his family friends and the doctors in charge of his care as this story continues to develop.

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