Mike Napoli, Red Sox avoid big scare

Fresh off the news of the David Ortiz injury that already left all of Red Sox Nation with a headache, Mike Napoli had a quick scare as well. In the third inning of yesterday's exhibition game against the Miami Marlins, Napoli took a fastball from Kevin Slowey right on his left wrist.

Teammates, coaches, and even John Henry who was watching from the stands felt their hearts drop. Sighs of relief were quick to follow only moments later as Napoli shook off the pain and remained in the game. The last thing the Red Sox needed was another big injury.
“I’m fine,” the first baseman said after leaving the game in what turned into an 8-7 Marlins win over the Red Sox. “Any time you hit around your hand area, it doesn’t take much for something to go wrong. At first it was a little numb and then I kind of got feeling back into it.”

Even Slowey realized that his pitch made a bad connection on Napoli's wrist, and the pitcher then explained that causing an injury was never something he intended on:
“That’s the last thing you want, especially in the spring, hitting a guy near the hand,” Slowey said. “The pitch just came back. It’s frustrating. That’s certainly not what you want to do.” 

So Napoli and the Sox dodged a bullet here. With first baseman batting .364 with an OPS of 1.400, the team could hardly afford to lose him especially after everything that happened with Ortiz.

Anthony Aidonidis
@aidonidis18