It seems like Major League Baseball pitchers throw harder than ever. Any velocity around 90 MPH is considered low while 99 MPH is becoming a standard, way-too-frequent speed.
Nolan Ryan was the first to put the heat in heater and now everyone from Aroldis Chapman to (checks name) Sam Coonrod is throwing near triple digits. This phenomenon leaves batters with far less time to duck and spin away from incoming head-hunting beanballs.
The result, as Seattle Mariners second baseman Dylan Moore found out from a Coonrod heater, can be a pretty scary occurrence.
MLB Player Takes 99 MPH Fastball To Head
Scary moment as Sam Coonrod hits Dylan Moore in the head with a pitch. Moore was able to stay in the game. pic.twitter.com/yI2G6PPvz4
— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) September 17, 2020
RELATED: MLB Player Takes 90 MPH Fastball To Face For Unfortunate Strike Call
The San Francisco Giants slugged three home runs and beat the Mariners, 9-3, on Wednesday at Oracle Park to pull back into the second and final wild card playoff spot. However, the story of the night may have been the errant pitch from Giants reliever Sam Coonrod in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Coonrod's 99-MPH two-seam fastball hit Moore right on the noggin, and he went down to the ground instantly. Mariners training staff quickly came out to check on him.
"Every Giants player is down in a squat," the NBC Sports broadcaster said.
While everyone in the stadium — including Mariners players Kyle Seager, Kyle Lewis, Shed Long — hoped he'd be OK, Moore stood on his feet. Then, after double checking with his team's staff, he walked down to first like it never happened. What a champ.
What a freaking competitor. Dylan Moore just took a 99-MPH fastball to the head and he went down immediately.
He?s now walking himself to first and staying in a 9-3 game. Thank god he?s alright ?? pic.twitter.com/BaRbvPu5Js
— Danny Vietti (@DannyVietti) September 17, 2020
Mariners manager Scott Servais replaced Moore in the field with Dee Strange-Gordon for precautionary reasons anyway and told MLB.com's Greg Johns that Moore seemed fine.
"Dylan is going to be OK, I think. You're always concerned when guys get hit in the head like that. When I got out there, he was on the ground, but he never lost consciousness or anything like that. He was very responsive and no issues, but just precautionary we took him out of the ballgame," Servais said.
"We'll monitor him tonight and see if he's going to be OK tomorrow. But as of right now he says he's fine and it looks like he's going to be OK, thank God."
Fastballs to the head are always scary. Let's be thankful the 28-year-old Moore seems to have escaped it without injury.
