DENVER — After a frightening scene at Coors Field on Saturday night, we have an update on Colorado Rockies pitcher Ryan Feltner and a reaction to the injury from Nick Castellanos of the Philadelphia Phillies.
In the second inning of Saturday’s 7-4 Philadelphia win, Castellanos hit a comebacker that struck Feltner in the back of the head. Feltner was eventually helped from the field and taken to a local hospital where he stayed under evaluation overnight.
Frightening moment in Colorado, as Ryan Feltner gets hit with a comebacker on the mound. Feltner exited on his own power. pic.twitter.com/9VbghmNNMe
— Casey Drottar (@CDrottar19) May 14, 2023
On Sunday morning, Colorado manager Bud Black told the media that Feltner had suffered a small skull fracture as well as a concussion and was scheduled to be released from the hospital later that day.
“Overall, he’s fine. I think the feeling is that it could have been worse,” Black said. “He’s going to miss some time.”
Rockies update on Ryan Feltner
Black later added that Feltner was texting with teammates after the game. The plan is for him to rest and heal from the skull fracture, with Black saying it could be on the “longer end” of a timeline for him to return.
Colorado will have to make another move to fortify the rotation, even after picking up Chase Anderson off waivers from the Tampa Bay Rays to fill the void from Antonio Senzatela’s elbow injury. Currently, because of injuries and ineffectiveness, the Rockies rotation has only Kyle Freeland and Austin Gomber available from the rotation it opened the season with in San Diego.
Phillies: Nick Castellanos shaken
On the other side, Castellanos was visibly shaken after hitting the ball that struck Feltner. After the game, he shared with reporters that his first instinct was to run to the mound to check on the pitcher.
“I felt like I was running to first base because it was my job,” Castellanos said. “What I thought was, ‘Holy s—, I hit him.’ There’s a part of me that wanted to go to the mound, but the baseball player takes over and you run to first. As soon as I touched first, I turned around and was just really hoping that what happened didn’t happen.”
Castellanos added that he was feeling, “a lot of remorse, concern, worry,” throughout the game.
“Multiple people were telling me in the dugout that he was okay,” Castellanos added.
If there is a silver lining, it’s the fact that the ball left the bat at 92.7 mph. In the first inning, Castellanos ripped a single at 104.9 mph, showing that the impact could have been much worse.
“I barreled it, but I didn’t have everything behind it,” Castellanos said, sitting in front of his locker and still showing the emotions of what had been a harrowing moment.