Royals southpaw forced out after taking line drive to face

Kansas City Royals left-hander Ryan Yarbrough was struck in the face by a Ryan Noda line drive during Sunday's game, resulting in the former's removal from the game.  

In the sixth inning of Kansas City’s 5-1 victory over the Oakland A's, Yarbrough’s pitch was driven back to the mound with a 106.2 mph exit velocity off of Noda’s bat, knocking Yarbrough immediately to the ground.  He was eventually able to leave the mound on his own feet, albeit with some assistance from team trainers.

Post-game, Royals manager Matt Quatraro told MLB.com’s Anne Rogers that Yarbrough “was talking and aware of what was going on” when team personnel quickly visited the mound in the wake of the injury.  Quatraro said Yarbrough would undergo further testing at a local hospital.

More will be known when that testing is complete, but it tentatively seems as though the southpaw has avoided any serious damage from a very scary moment.  The Royals could still put Yarbrough on the seven-day concussion-related injured list for precautionary reasons, just to give him more time to fully recover.

Sunday’s incident spoils what had been a positive day on the mound, as Yarbrough earned his first win of the season after limiting the Athletics to one run on three hits over 5 2/3 innings, in what was his third start of the campaign after opening the season working out of the pen. All told, he holds a still-rough 6.15 ERA over 26 1/3 innings this season.

The swingman moved into the rotation once Kris Bubic was lost for the season due to Tommy John surgery, but the Royals will have to look for another fill-in starter if Yarbrough does indeed have to miss any time upcoming.