Guardians designated hitter David Fry remained in a Cleveland hospital Wednesday with a broken nose and facial fractures after being hit by a pitch from Tigers ace Tarik Skubal on Tuesday night.
“He is doing OK. He’s in good spirits,” manager Stephen Vogt, who visited Fry at the hospital, told ESPN on Wednesday morning. “He’s upright. He’s alert.”
In the sixth inning, Fry attempted to bunt a 99-mph fastball, but the pitch struck him in the face. He fell to the dirt as Cleveland trainers rushed over to help. After a delay, Fry got to his feet and departed on a golf cart.
The Guardians said Fry was initially transported to Lutheran Medical Center before moving to the Cleveland Clinic for further testing and observation. He never lost consciousness, according to Vogt.
A shaken Skubal, the 2024 American League Cy Young Award winner, threw down his hat and glove in horror after Fry collapsed.
The umpires ruled the pitch a foul ball, leaving the count at 2-2. George Valera came in to pinch-hit, and Skubal’s next delivery was a wild pitch that tied the game 2-2. After Valera completed a strikeout that officially was charged to Fry, a Skubal balk and a Gabriel Arias RBI groundout led to Cleveland scoring the go-ahead run.
The Guardians went on to win 5-2, tying the Tigers for first place in the American League Central.
Fry went 0-for-3 on the night, leaving him with a .171 average in 66 games this year. He has eight homers and 23 RBIs.
The 29-year-old from Texas was an All-Star last year in his first full major league season. He ended up hitting .263 with 14 homers and 51 RBIs in 122 games. In three seasons, all with Cleveland, Fry has a .235 batting average, a .320 on-base percentage, a .421 slugging percentage, 26 homers and 89 RBIs in 246 games.
Skubal said he attempted to reach out to Fry after the game.
“Hopefully he’s all right, but I look forward to, hopefully at some point tonight or tomorrow morning, getting a text from him and making sure he’s all good, because there’s things that are bigger than the game, and the health of him is more important than a baseball game,” Skubal said Tuesday.
Deadlocked at 85-72, the Guardians and Tigers continue the critical series on Wednesday and Thursday.
