Umpire Taken Off Field After Being Hit By Giancarlo Stanton’s Broken Bat

A baseball game at Yankee Stadium took a frightening turn Sunday when home plate umpire Nick Mahrley was struck in the neck by pieces of a splintered bat.

The incident occurred in the fifth inning of the game between the New York Yankees and the Colorado Rockies. Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton’s bat shattered above the handle after he slammed a pitch from the Rockies’ Austin Gomber, according to the New York Post.

Video footage shows the shattered piece hurtling through the air, hitting Mahrley with such force that it knocked the umpire’s mask off. Mahrley fell to the ground and remained there until he was placed on a stretcher and carted off the field wearing a neck

After realizing what happened, Stanton walked over to the umpire from first base to check on him as he was being loaded onto the stretcher. The crowd cheered Mahrley as medical personnel took him off the field through the center field exit.

The Yankees later announced during the seventh inning that Mahrley was undergoing a series of tests administered by the team’s medical staff. Crew chief Marvin Hudson took over his duties behind the plate.

Earlier in the season, two of the Yankees’ highest paid players were sidelined due to health problems. Outfielder Aaron Judge sat out for a few days because he was “mid-spring beat up.”

Pitcher Gerrit Cole had an MRI on his right elbow in March after struggling to recover between starts. He indicated that he was as tired after making limited spring appearances as he was after a 100-pitch regular season.