UPDATE:
Despite walking off the field under his own power and later sharing that he was "doing fine," it turns out that the HBP didn't leave Pillar unscathed. A Mets statement revealed that Pillar is dealing with multiple nasal fractures and that he'll visit a specialist to determine the next steps to take.
ORIGINAL:
There's a reason that John Smoltz is becoming concerned with the increased HBP rate that has coincided with increased velocity. Actually, there are multiple reasons.
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And those reasons existed before Monday night, when Mets outfielder Kevin Pillar was drilled in the face with a 94-mph fastball in one of the scarier incidents you'll ever see on a baseball field. Fans didn't need a reminder of the similar incident that occurred earlier this year when Bryce Harper was hit with an even faster heater, but they got one.
Thankfully, like Harper, Pillar seemed to walk away without serious injury. He informed his followers on social media after the game that he was "doing fine" and even gave himself a good-humored pat on the back for producing the game-winning RBI.
And though we're all extremely thankful that he's feeling good, we shouldn't be satisfied. HBPs are getting out of hand, a trend that becomes pretty clear when you look at it in a quantifiable lens. Here's a list of every season in baseball history where there was an average of HBP per game that was 0.42 or higher (via Stathead):
Notice anything a little bit strange there? The next three seasons on the list are 2019, 1893 and 2018. There's certainly a pattern emerging, and it's not the type of pattern we want continuing on an upward trajectory. If I grew up aspiring to play baseball, even as a middle schooler or something as seemingly trivial as that, watching players constantly get pummeled by fastballs would be more than enough to dissuade me from trying out the sport.
But for now, we can take a deep sigh of relief that Pillar is feeling okay. His teammates and coaching staff can as well, and they lauded him for his toughness.
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