New York Mets third baseman and captain David Wright endured a scary moment during Thursday night's game at Citi Field when he was plunked in the head by an 86 mph pitch from Brewers pitcher Johnny Hellweg and fell to the ground in the third inning of the Mets eventual 4-2 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers.
Wright passed all the concussion tests after the game, but it was still a horrid flashback to a time in 2009 when he was nailed in the head by a fastball from San Francisco Giants pitcher Matt Cain.
Wright getting hit in the head by the Hellweg pitch can be seen here.
"I feel pretty good. I passed all the concussion tests," said Wright, who just returned from a seven-week absence due to a hamstring injury, per ESPN. "I went through that protocol. It seems like it's good. ... I got to a knee and just wanted to collect my thoughts and make sure I was all right before I got up. By that time the decision was already made to take me out."
The incident was much less severe than the last time Wright was hit in the head as Hellweg tossed a changeup while Cain hit him with a 94 mph fastball in Aug. 2009 that gave Wright a concussion and ended up putting him on the disabled list.
"It's scary," Wright said, according to ESPN. "I've been through that before. This seems different from that. The last one I definitely have something to base it off of. I was a lot more clear and it was a lot less painful this time. So I think they want to see how I feel tomorrow -- wake and run me through some tests."
Wright said he jammed his thumb when he landed on his right hand following getting hit by the pitch, but expects it to be fine.
Hellweg , who hit seven batters so far this season, was very apologetic and noted that Wright has a great reputation and he wasn't trying to hit him.
"That's the last guy on the team I want to hit," the right-hander said to ESPN about Wright. "All I hear is good things about him. He's a good guy. You don't ever want to hit somebody in the head. It was a changeup and definitely mislocated. I feel awful he had to come out of the game. It got to me a little bit because it's David Wright. That's their guy. And it was in the head, and he had to come out."
Hellweg, is getting his first taste of big league action this season and through eight appearances is 1-4 with a 6.75 ERA. Hellweg was wild Thursday night, throwing a wild pitch, hitting Lucas Duda right after Wright and walking four through four innings.
The Brewers improved to 72-87 with the loss while the Mets, one of the league's worst home teams, slipped to 73-86. Both teams will wrap up this four-game set over the weekend and watch the playoffs from the sidelines as neither team performed well enough to make it this year.
Wright has had a strong year for the Mets, hitting .312 with 18 homers and 57 RBIs through 110 games. Wright leads the team in average and is the active leader in homers after Marlon Byrd (21) was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates.
It was a scary situation for the Mets third baseman, but it looks as though he'll be okay this time after getting hit in the head.
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