PHILADELPHIA -- In a startling recovery, catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia will be back in the starting lineup Saturday, less than 24 hours after he took a ball of his left ear which
required 12 stitches.
"Salty checked out well at the hospital (Friday) night,'' said manager Bobby Valentine. "He texted me as soon as it was over and told me he was ready to go as soon as he got clearance.But we waited until he came out today. When he got into the trainer's
room, the trainers gave him the green light."
"He's got some stitches, but there were no problems with the head or the eyes or things you might worry about when it's a blow to the head.''
Saltalamacchia wasn't concerned about suffering a concussion of being struck.
"I didn't have any symptoms,'' he said. "The biggest thing they were worried about was a fracture (behind the ear). But the CT-scan showed nothing.''
Saltalamacchia watched replay of the play later and was astounded by the path the ball took to get to him.
"It was amazing,'' he said. "Usually, when you throw the ball in, you kind of flinch away, just so the backswing doesn't hit you. That's kind of what I did and it hit his forearm, then perfectly hit my forearm and went right to the ear.''
Saltalamacchia briefly considered using the goalie-style catching mask to offer better protection, but ultimately chose to stay with his own mask.
Boston Red Sox
"I used it in high school,'' said Saltalamacchia of the goalie mask. "But they're heavy and after foul boul after foul ball, they're loud. I stopped using it because they're so damn
loud. But it would have stopped me from getting hurt (Friday) night, that's for sure.''