Batters didn’t wear helmets for decades. And to future generations, perhaps it will be equally incredible that pitchers went without them for so long.
Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Brandon McCarthy said Wednesday there’s a chance that MLB pitchers could have the option to wear special protective headgear as soon as this upcoming season.
McCarthy, who was seriously injured after getting hit in the head with a line drive while pitching for the Oakland A’s in 2012, said the headgear would look like a hat, but be able to help prevent injuries similar to his.
“They’re coming,” McCarthy said on “The Buzz” podcast. “From everything I know, they’ll be available this year. I don’t believe they’re going to be mandatory. Actually, I’m almost certain they won’t be mandatory.
“I did get a chance to sit down with the head MLB doctor last year during spring training, who’s overseeing the whole thing, and it has been a high priority for them. It’s just that there has been very few answers. We both agreed on it not being mandatory at the time, there’s just no need to do that. But whatever gets proposed has to be correct or we’re not really doing too much.”
An MLB spokesperson said: “One product that has passed the testing standards should be available to players for next season. We are still evaluating a number of other potential products. Our conversations with the MLBPA are ongoing. We expect this issue to continue to evolve, but we believe this is an important first step.”
The only issue, McCarthy said, is how it looks. He recently took a picture of himself wearing the headgear and sent it to other pitchers.
“It looks ridiculous and we get so used to the way things look,” McCarthy said. “You mentioned the new football helmets and batting helmets, everything looks silly until it doesn’t look silly anymore.”
More important, though, is how effective it can be in preventing severe head injuries. When McCarthy was injured, he required surgery to relieve cranial pressure after CT scans revealed he had suffered a brain contusion, an epidural hemorrhage and a skull fracture.
“It should be strong enough and capable enough that literally if I got hit by the same exact ball I would have been able to keep pitching in that game,” McCarthy said.