There was a scary moment Tuesday night at Guaranteed Rate Field in Chicago. At the bottom of the second innings, White Sox batsman Brian Goodwin sent a rocket toward the mound and Oakland Athletics starter Chris Bassett hit a part of the head.
The line drive was 100.1 mph with the bat and it didn't look like Bassett had got any gloves on it. It wasn't even a glimmering blow. It simply hit Bassit all over the right side of the face, possibly the upper cheek area, hopefully not too close to his eye.
In short respite, Basit doesn't seem to have lost consciousness. He was moving around, though not much and never took the towel off his head and/or face.
After the game, A's manager Bob Melvin said the following (via A's postgame Zoom):
"Bass is conscious. He was there the whole time. We don't think there's an eye problem at the moment. It felt like it was under it. He's got some cuts, he's had some stitches. He's in a scan and we Will learn more about possible fractures or tomorrow."
The White Sox shook the A's crew, winning the game 9–0. This was hardly the key point of the night, however, as White Sox manager Tony La Russa later pointed out.
"There was a dark cloud around that game the whole time," La Russa said (via ESPN Chicago's Jesse Rogers, who said La Russa called Bassit his No. 1 concern). "We're all really hoping he survives with just one injury."
Although the Athletics hasn't provided an official update since Tuesday night, MLB Network's John Heyman and The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal reported Wednesday morning that Bassett sustained fractures to his cheekbones and upper jaw, but other scans showed clear and his vision is not damaged. After the swelling subsides, she will have surgery in a few days.
Bassit, 32, entered the game 12-3 with 3.06 ERA, 1.03 WHIP and 153 strikes in 150 innings. He finished eighth in Cy Young voting last season and was on track to do even better in 2021, his first season making the All-Star team. The writers of the A have mentioned all season that Bassett is one of the team leaders at the clubhouse.