J.A. Happ in “Stable Condition” Morning After Taking Line Drive Off His Skull

The Toronto Blue Jays endured a frightening moment in Tuesday night’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays when starter J.A. Happ took a line drive off the bat of Desmond Jennings directly off of his head. Happ went down hard and needed to be carried off on a stretcher, but fans around baseball got encouraging news when word came down that Happ was in “stable condition” and starting to slowly recover.

It was a terrifying moment for anyone who saw it, but it’s not the first time we’ve seen a pitcher take a line drive off of his head. Last year Oakland A’s starter Brandon McCarthy fractured his skull when a ball came back at him and he failed to get out of the way in time.

There currently is no timetable for Happ’s recovery, but one has to think that he’s going to be out for quite some time. Beyond the act of recovering from the injury, there’s the question about how quickly the Jays starter will get his confidence back. It’s not everyday that screaming line drive plunks off the side of your skull, so there’s no telling when Happ will feel comfortable stepping back onto the mound.

For now, everyone around baseball is concerned only with Happ recovering from the gruesome injury, as that’s the most important step to the pitcher returning to a normal life.