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Kansas City Royals pitcher Seth Lugo left Wednesday’s game after taking a 107 mph liner off the head in another of those “hold-your-breath” scenes out of Major League Baseball.
I feel like we get about five of these a year and they are all hard to see. Frankly, I’m surprised it doesn’t happen more often. I have always been surprised by that. I played baseball for 15 years at every level and I have NEVER seen a pitcher take a strike from the head.
Again, I feel like this should happen a lot more often than it does, but I’m thankful that it seems to be rare.
Anyway, back to Lugo…
GUARDIANS PITCHER NEARLY ESCAPES INJURY AFTER 106.6 MPH LINE DRIVE GOES RIGHT TO HIS HEAD
Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Seth Lugo falls to the mound after being hit by a line drive from Texas Rangers right fielder Brandon Nimmo during the fourth inning at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Mo., on June 10, 2026. (Denny Medley/Imagn Images)
Brandon Nimmo hit a scorcher off the face Wednesday night in Kansas City, and Lugo immediately hit the deck. Nimmo, who was teammates with Lugo with the Mets, was visibly shaken as he ran to first base. He can be seen throwing off his helmet and waving his arms after Lugo went down.
After touching the bag, Nimmo immediately called time and ran over to his former teammate on the mound in one of the better moves of the season.
Take a look:
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Seth Lugo ‘doing good’ after a scary moment
Goodness gracious. Scary stuff. It’s amazing that Lugo got up as quickly as he did. And what about that upside-down WELT?
I didn’t know tumors could form to quickly. That must be some kind of record in terms of welt formation. That thing was MASSIVE after three seconds.
Texas Rangers right fielder Brandon Nimmo talks with Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Seth Lugo after hitting a line drive single during the fourth inning at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Mo., on June 10, 2026. (Denny Medley/Imagn Images)
Good on Nimmo for immediately running over to check on his former teammate as well.
I’m not sure I’ve ever seen it either. The batter just runs to the mound right after touching first base? Shows you the respect he has for Lugo.
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It also shows you what kind of guy Brandon Nimmo is. The veteran has a reputation for being one of the best guys in all of Major League Baseball, and I believe it after seeing it.
Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Seth Lugo falls to the ground after being hit in the forehead by a batted ball during the fourth inning of a game against the Texas Rangers at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Mo., on June 10, 2026. (Keith Gillett/Icon Sportswire)
Anyway, all’s well that ends well. Scary scene, but Lugo (somehow) walked away unscathed. The Royals later said he was “doing well” but would put him through the proper protocols before his next outing. His CT scan Wednesday night came back clear.
“He was shaken up pretty good,” Lugo said of Nimmo’s reaction. “I was really just trying to reassure him. ‘I’m fine, Nimms.’ He’s always been such a sweetheart. As my buddy, I felt for him. You’ve hit guys before as a pitcher and you feel bad. So it was just an unfortunate situation, but everything’s OK.”
