Given all the recent head injuries to MLB hurlers, San Diego Padres relief pitcher Alex Torres isn’t taking any chances.
Torres became the first pitcher to wear a protective cap in Saturday night’s game against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The hat, which is made with extra padding to absorb impact, was designed by isoBlox.
Brandon McCarthy, Juan Nicasio, Alex Cobb, and, most notably, Aroldis Chapman are just some of the pitchers who have been struck in the head or in the face by a batted baseball and suffered traumatic head injuries, causing the MLB to test and approve the cap before the start of the season.
As Colorado Rockies pitcher Brett Anderson points out, though, the hat is pretty big.
[tweet https://twitter.com/BAnderson_30/status/480569170703024129 align=’center’]
While players like Anderson might be a bit reluctant to wear the hat from a fashion sense, Torres explained Saturday that it’s not as bad as it appears.
[tweet https://twitter.com/dennistlin/status/480593994640916480 align=’center’%5D
[tweet https://twitter.com/dennistlin/status/480594187708948480 align=’center’%5D
We’ll have to wait and see how many other players sport this new headwear, but any step toward safety is a productive one. And if Torres feels more comfortable on the mound with this hat, than the process has already been a success.
