Miami Marlins left-handed pitcher Daniel Castano suffered a forehead contusion and a mild concussion on Thursday afternoon after being struck in the head with a comebacker in the first inning of his start against the Cincinnati Reds.
Castano, 27 years old, was facing his fifth batter of the day in the person of Reds third baseman Donovan Solano when he was struck by a 104-mph line drive. The ball ricocheted off the brim of his cap, potentially sparing him from a worse outcome. You can view the play below, but we'll warn that many viewers might find it upsetting.
Castano spoke with reporters after the game. His forehead was bandaged, but he joked that the first thing he asked was whether or not the Marlins had recovered the ball and recorded the out:
Castano entered Thursday having appeared in nine games already this season, including six starts. He'd accumulated a 3.86 ERA (107 ERA+) and a 2.22 strikeout-to-walk ratio in that span. His final line on Thursday saw him record two outs and allow one run on two hits and no walks. He didn't strike out anyone.
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The Marlins replaced Castano with right-handed reliever Jeff Brigham. Manager Don Mattingly subsequently covered the remaining eight-plus innings with a combination of six relievers, receiving more than four combined frames from Brigham and lefty Steven Okert. Richard Bleier, Anthony Bass, Zach Pop, and Tanner Scott also appeared.
The Marlins, who overcame a 5-4 deficit in the ninth inning to win by a 7-6 margin (box score), were paced offensively by designated hitter Jesús Aguilar. He notched three hits and drove in four runs, with a pair coming on his 12th home run of the year. The Marlins, 47-62 on the season with the victory, are now five games back of the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League wild card race. Nevertheless, SportsLine's forecast gives them less than a 1 percent shot at reaching the playoffs.
