Hunter Bigge: 'Need To Do Million Nice Things' For Wife Casey After Facial Surgery
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TAMPA, Fla. — It's been about five weeks now since Tampa Bay pitcher Hunter Bigge got hit in the face with a foul ball in the Rays' dugout. It was a scary image, one that required a trip to the hospital to repair broken bones in his face.
He was back in the Rays' clubhouse on Monday, with a smile on his still-swollen face. It was good to be back, he said, and life is coming back to normal. But it's been a long journey, and he's been grateful to all involved with his recovery, especially his wife Casey, who's been there with him right from the beginning, and most every hour of ever day since.
“(Casey’s) been super strong and been a rock for me through this whole thing,” Bigge said. “I need to do like a million nice things for her. She’s been amazing
“I could probably talk about it for the next 20 minutes, but I feel really grateful for a lot of people around me and the Rays in general,” he added.
Bigge, a relief pitcher acquired from the Chicago Cubs in 2024 who was on the injured list at the time, was standing in the Rays' dugout on June 19, watching the game with the Orioles when a 105 mph foul ball hit him right in the face. He admitted he was scared at the time as he was instantly surrounded by Rays medical staff.
“Right when I got hit, I had no idea what had happened. I was on the ground and there was blood in my mound. I was in a daze. Time slowed down a lot, but I was really coherent throughout the whole process, which is good. But it was also really scary,” he said. "
His immediate concern was his brain, and the potential for long-term — and life-altering — damage.
“I started moving my feet around while I was in the dugout, and that made me feel really good,” he said. “And I think the fact that I was worried about my brain, I guess that was a good thing. I said, 'Oh, because I'm worried about my brain, my brain is probably OK. I don't know if that's accurate or not.”
Bigge was placed on a stretcher and rushed to the hospital to repair multiple facial fractures, including one to his orbital bone. As he left the field, he gave a thumps up and the Steinbrenner Field crowd cheered.
“I was thinking about my wife and my parents, pretty much,” Bigge said. “I just wanted to let them know that I was OK. The surgeons were great and they told me I would make a full recovery, so that was reassuring. The panic probably went away after seven or eight hours.”
Working out again
Bigge said he has begun light workouts, all very carefully under close supervision. He's hoping to pitch again this season, but the journey back to the mound — and standing in a dugout again — could be a long one.
“I don't want to do anything that's going to cause more damage to my eye,.'' Bigge said. "I want to be able to see for the rest of my life,” Bigge said. “But I think as long as I'm kind of checking boxes and slowly progressing, we'll kind of see how the next few months go. I would love to pitch again this year, for sure.”
Rays manager Kevin Cash is glad to have him back in the clubhouse.
“He looks really good, so I'm excited by that, first and foremost,” Cash said. “We've still got some different injuries to maintain, but I think everybody's happy that he's here in the building and looks like himself.”
Pitcher Drew Rasmussen, who is starting Tuesday night's game against the Chicago White Sox, said just having Bigge around again is a big lift for everyone
“It definitely brightens the spirits around this place now that he’s back and he has the freedom to do some things,” Drew Rasmussen said.
Getting life back to normal
Bigge said he is feeling “almost back to normal,” and has been able to start doing every-day things like eating regular food, breathing without incident and sleeping lying down. He sees his doctor again on Wednesday..
“Hopefully, that all goes well,” Bigge said. “I'm excited to start living a normal life again. A lot of it is going to be based on how my face responds. My wife, she's been great. She was making sure that I was getting smoothies and soft foods so I didn't lose a bunch of weight. I've been responding pretty well to workouts, and my body is feeling pretty good. I feel well rested, that's for sure.
"I still haven't been in the dugout yet for a game and that's a mental hurdle I have to clear. It's a lot to go through for all of us. For my wife, it's been really hard on her. She was so scared when it first happened because no one knew what happened. I've talked to her a little about it, and how scared she was. I think we're both kind of healing from this simultaneously.''
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Tom Brew is the publisher of ''Tampa Bay Rays on SI'' and has been with the Sports Illustrated platform since 2019. He has worked at some of America's finest newspapers, including the Tampa Bay Times, Indianapolis Star and South Florida Sun-Sentinel. He owns eight sites on the "On SI'' network and has written four books.
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