Blue Jays left-hander J.A. Happ departed the field on a stretcher after taking a Desmond Jennings line drive off the left side of his head in the second inning of his start Tuesday evening against the Rays.
Happ appeared to be conversing with paramedics as they led him off in a cart, but his neck was stabilized by a brace and he had some blood dribbling out of his left ear. He will probably be taken to a local hospital near Tropicana Field and monitored overnight. We’ll pass along any further updates.
Happ earned a spot in Toronto’s starting rotation with a big spring and signed a two-year, $8.9 million contract extension with the Jays on March 27. He was sporting a 3.98 ERA, 1.42 WHIP and 26/18 K/BB ratio in 31 2/3 innings entering Tuesday’s outing.
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UPDATE, 8:33 PM ET: Happ maintained full consciousness on the way to Bayfront Medical Center, according to Shi Davidi of Sportsnet. MLB.com has the replay of the incident:
[mlbvideo id="26917245" width="400" height="224" /]
