MILWAUKEE (AP) — Kansas City’s Jonathan India showed no signs of fear after getting hit by a 98.9-mph pitch.
He requested – demanded, really – to get in the Royals’ starting lineup the next day. He then went 3 for 5 with two runs and a pair of RBIs as Kansas City trounced the Milwaukee Brewers 11-1 on Monday afternoon.
“I’m a gamer,” India said. “I want to play every day. That’s who I am.”
India’s response amazed his teammates, who saw how frightening a scene it was Sunday when a pitch from Cleveland’s Emmanuel Clase hit India’s batting helmet on the left side of his face during the ninth inning of the Royals’ 6-2 loss to the Cleveland Guardians.
After a CT scan showed no lingering damage, India calmly lined a single to left to open Monday’s game. He got a base hit again in the sixth inning and added a two-run single in the seventh.
“Unbelievable,” Royals catcher Salvador Perez said. “It’s something that I’ve never seen in my career. … He’s one of the toughest guys I’ve ever met in my life.”
India acknowledged it was a scary moment when the pitch from Clase hit him, causing him to leave Sunday’s game and hit the locker room. He also felt some anger over what happened.
But once India realized he felt fine and was showing no signs of any head injury, he just wanted to get back on the field as soon as possible.
“I’ve been hit in the head before,” India said. “It’s just part of baseball. Pitchers when they throw high and in like that, I think they should get reprimanded for it, but it’s part of baseball, I guess.”
Perez said Clase reached out to him to express regret over the incident. Perez said Clase explained that the ball just flipped out of his hand in the cold weather. Perez was confident Clase didn’t intend any harm.
“I’ve known Clase for a little bit,” Perez said. “I don’t think he’s that type of guy.”
India left no doubt that he wanted to play Monday, so Royals manager Matt Quatraro had him leading off and playing third base.
“He was adamant,” Quatraro said. “I probably would have leaned the other way, but as tough as he is, and he wanted to be in there, I wasn’t going to stop him from doing that. He had a heck of a game.”
India left the game in the ninth inning with the Royals comfortably ahead, but Quatraro said that move wasn't injury related.
The Royals acquired India and outfielder Joey Wiemer from Cincinnati in an offseason trade that sent right-handed pitcher Brady Singer to the Reds. India, the 2021 NL rookie of the year, batted .248 with a .357 on-base percentage, 15 homers, 58 RBIs and 13 steals in 151 games last season.
India's performance Monday a day after getting hit in the face made quite the impression on his new team.
“I think he's a warrior," infielder/outfielder Maikel Garcia said. ”To receive a fastball in the face yesterday, and come today and play the way he played today, it's unbelievable."
The injury news wasn’t entirely positive for the Royals.
Kansas City placed outfielder/pinch-runner Dairon Blanco on the injured list because of tendinopathy in his right Achilles tendon. Blanco made only one plate appearance in the Royals’ first three games, but he stole two bases and scored two runs.
“It’s a bone spur essentially that’s on his Achilles,” Quatraro said before the game. “When it flares up, it flares up, and it’s painful.”
The Royals filled his spot on the roster by calling up utilityman Tyler Tolbert from Triple-A Omaha.
“He can do a lot of the same things as Blanco — play center field, play corner outfield, pinch-run,” Quatraro said. “But he’s also able to play in the middle of the infield, too. I think it would be unfair to say he’s just going to replace Blanco, who’s done this at the big-league level, but good for him for putting himself in a spot to earn this call-up.”
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
Steve Megargee, The Associated Press
