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Outside The Confines: Kevin Pillar recovering after scary hit by pitch incident

We also get into that whole Tony La Russa fiasco.

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New York Mets v Atlanta Braves Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

On Monday evening in a Mets/Braves game, the worst-case scenario of any game happened so quickly you might have blinked and missed it. Braves pitcher Jacob Webb missed a pitch outside of the zone and hit Pillar directly in the face, avoiding his helmet entirely. Pillar hit the ground immediately, blood clearly visible (I will not be sharing the video here), but was able to walk off the field on his own.

On Tuesday, Pillar reportedly showed up in the Mets clubhouse asking, “Am I in the lineup today, or what?” In reality, Pillar has been diagnosed with multiple facial fractures and is unlikely to be in a lineup in the near future. He showed off his bruised face in some photos as the Mets warmed up, but looked to be in good shape considering what happened to him only the night before.

There’s not a lot of commentary to be had here about beanballs, as Webb’s pitch was obviously just a mistake and in no way intentional (as was evident given his crestfallen appearance after Pillar was walked off the field). It’s just one of those terrifying moments that can happen in baseball, and it’s just a good thing Pillar is okay.

Here are the big stories following the Pillar hit by pitch:

The other major story we followed on Tuesday was Tony La Russa absolutely shoving Yermin Mercedes after Mercedes hit a home run on a 3-0 count during Monday’s White Sox game against the Minnesota Twins. The Twins had turned to beloved utilityman Willians Astudillo in relief, and Mercedes saw an opportunity and took it.

On Tuesday La Russa held a press conference and dug himself the deepest hole possible by clinging to the unwritten rules and calling Mercedes a “clueless” rookie who would face “consequences” for his actions. Yes, you read that right. Mercedes would face consequences for helping his team score runs.

Here are some of the commentary pieces on that story:

Sara Sanchez will have a view on this incident here at BCB coming up at 9 a.m. CT.

Now onto the rest of the links!

And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster. Make it so.