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Angels Player Got Hit in Head With His Own Bat Thanks to Cardinals’ Careless Catcher
Los Angeles Angels shortstop Nicky Lopez was standing in the batter's box after taking a ball against the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday when he was suddenly hit in the head by his own bat.
How could something like that happen? Well, Cardinals catcher Ivan Herrera went to throw the ball back to the pitcher but instead he threw it right into Lopez's bat, which then struck him in the head so hard that his helmet popped off.
This was easily one of the weirdest moments of the young 2025 season and it took a slo-mo replay for us to figure out what in the world happened during what is normally such a basic move in a baseball game.
WATCH OUT pic.twitter.com/1s70grXTg8
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) April 2, 2025
Making matters worse for Lopez was that he struck out swinging a few pitches later.
Double ouch.
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Andy Nesbitt is the assistant managing editor of audience engagement at Sports Illustrated. He works closely with the Breaking and Trending News team to shape SI’s daily coverage across all sports. A 20-year veteran of the sports media business, he has worked for Fox Sports, For the Win, The Boston Globe and NBC Sports, having joined SI in February 2023. Nesbitt is a golf fanatic who desperately wants to see the Super Bowl played on a Saturday night.