Brewers relief pitcher hit in face by line drive

Milwaukee Brewers relief pitcher Gus Varland walks off the field after being hit by a line out by San Diego Padres third baseman Manny Machado Ray Acevedo-USA TODAY Sports

Brewers relief pitcher hit in face by 105 mph line drive

By Adam Gretz | Last updated 4/17/23

Scary moment for Milwaukee Brewers relief pitcher Gus Varland on Saturday afternoon as he was struck by a rocket of a line drive from San Diego Padres star Manny Machado.

It happened in the bottom of the eighth inning as Varland was unable to dodge the line drive that came off the bat at more than 105 miles per hour.

Machado was actually retired on the play as shortstop Wily Adames was able to get the deflection and throw out Machado at first base.

Varland was immediately tended to by team trainers and removed from the game.

Scary play. Wishing the best for Gus Varland pic.twitter.com/h9QIKmdq8W
— Talking Friars (@TalkingFriars) April 15, 2023

As scary as that was, there is good news after the fact. Brewers manager Craig Counsel said the ball caught Varland's hand and arm before it his face, and that all X-rays came back negative. Had it been a direct hit to his face it could have been significantly worse.

The Padres ended up winning the game 10-3, but the important news is Varland appears to be okay.

Players today are bigger, stronger and faster than ever before and the ball is coming off the bat harder than ever before. The reaction time on these plays is close to zero and there is almost no chance for a pitcher on a play like that. It is a big reason why Major League Baseball made netting around the infield stands mandatory. Fans and players just have no time to get out of the way on balls hit like that.

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