The Kansas City Royals placed Ryan Yarbrough on the 15-day injured list Monday after a comebacker struck the left-hander in the face during Sunday's game against the Oakland Athletics.
Yarbrough sustained multiple non-displaced facial fractures on the play but never lost consciousness, the team announced Monday. He is undergoing further tests but is expected to avoid surgery.
Kansas City recalled right-hander Jose Cuas in a corresponding roster move.
Yarbrough was able to walk off the field with the training staff while holding a towel to his face after a brief delay.
A scary moment in the game as Ryan Yarbrough was hit in the face with a line drive.
— A's on NBCS (@NBCSAthletics) May 7, 2023
The Royals' starter was able to get up walk off the field with some assistance. pic.twitter.com/6EOSDjQx0M
"It was scary," Royals manager Matt Quatraro said postgame, according to Anne Rogers of MLB.com. "The dugout went silent. Your heart drops there. Got a pit in your stomach. I can't think of a worse thing to see on the field. Luckily, when we got out there, he was talking and aware of what was going on and what had happened. But he was swollen immediately. There was some blood. You just didn't know exactly where it was coming from."
The 106-mph line drive came off the bat of Ryan Noda, who grounded out on the play after catcher Salvador Perez fielded the bounce off Yarbrough.
Right-hander Carlos Hernandez took over on the mound with two out in the sixth inning.
The 31-year-old Yarbrough was in the midst of a strong outing, allowing one run on three hits over 5 2/3 innings while striking out two against the AL West bottom-feeders. He now possesses a 6.15 ERA and 5.26 FIP through three starts and seven relief appearances this year.
