MILWAUKEE (AP) – For all the headgear, padding and other protection, batters are never really 100 percent safe at the plate.
Most at-bats don’t end in harm, of course. And everyone cringes on those rare occasions when a hitter gets seriously hurt the way Miami slugger Giancarlo Stanton did Thursday night. He got hit in the face by a pitch that got away from Brewers right-hander Mike Fiers.
Major league hitters have barely a second to react to a pitch. Sometimes they guess wrong on where it’s headed, or there’s more movement than anticipated.
Milwaukee hitting coach Johnny Narron says players are trained to turn down and away from an incoming pitch, so the ball hits their back instead of their face or head.
But catcher Mike Zunino of the Seattle Mariners says avoiding a pitch isn’t something you can practice.
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