The Tampa Bay Rays and reliever Hunter Bigge were the victims of some terrible luck during Thursday’s game. The one thing no one ever wants to see at a baseball game is a screaming line drive hit into a crowd of people. It is the reason that all MLB stadiums put up extensive netting wrapping from behind home plate, most of the way down the line to the outfield foul poles. Unfortunately, that netting doesn’t protect the teams’ dugouts.

Liner Fells Tampa Bay Rays Reliever In Dugout

In the seventh inning of the Rays’ Thursday evening game with the Baltimore Orioles, O’s catcher Adley Rutschman hit a 105-mile-per-hour line drive into the home dugout. The ball struck Bigge on the side of the face, and he immediately fell to the ground. A horrified Rutschman looked on as the Rays’ medical staff tended to Bigge. The game was delayed for close to ten minutes as staff and paramedics put the Rays’ 27-year-old righty onto a backboard and loaded him onto a cart. A bloodied Bigge gave a thumbs-up to the crowd as he was driven off the field.

After the 4-1 loss, Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash told the media that Bigge was coherent and never lost consciousness. He was taken to a local hospital for tests and further evaluation. There have been no further updates on his condition. Bigge has been sidelined since early May with a lat strain. Bigge was acquired from the Chicago Cubs, along with Christopher Morel and Ty Johnson, in the trade that sent Isaac Paredes to Chicago on July 28 of last season. Since the trade, the fireballing righty has posted a 2.48 ERA for the Rays in 28 appearances, striking out 31 batters over 29 innings.

End Of My Tampa Bay Rays Hunter Bigge Dugout Rant

So far, Hunter Bigge has been the main positive for the Tampa Bay Rays from the Paredes deal. Christopher Morel has not hit, and Ty Johnson is still in Double-A Montgomery. It is a shame that this frightening incident had to happen. Now that MLB has protected the fans from being hit by these vicious line drives, it is time to protect the players and staff in the dugouts. Most Little League dugouts are more protected. Major league clubs make significant financial investments in their players; therefore, they should have figured out a way to enclose the dugouts better by now. Incidents like this should not happen.