It may look awkward and uncomfortable, but this protective cap could make the difference. That seems to be the message Padres pitcher Alex Torres was making when he wore a protective cap during the Saturday night’s game.
While the media hype is on NFL given the concussion class-action lawsuit, the awareness of concussion dangers has spread out both vertically and horizontally. It has tinkled down to youth sports and spread to other professional sports like baseball.
Although it is not a contact sports per se, when it comes down to concussion, MLB players are no exceptions. Brandon McCarthy, Juan Nicasio, Alex Cobb, and Aroldis Chapman are some of the pitchers who have been struck in the head or face.
One protective measure approved by MLB is this heavily padded cap. Even though these protective caps have been available all season long, not many, if not at all, pitchers have been rushing to order them. For Torres, a near-miss hit during spring training convinced him to wear the cap.
“It doesn’t feel bad. The difference between the regular hat and this hat is not really that big,” said Torres after the game.
Torres’s wearing the cap could either encourage or discourage other players. While there were supportive opinions of his decision to wear the cap, some certainly made fun of the bulky hat. “It looks unusual. It isn’t quite as formfitting and as chic as the baseball cap . . . . Obviously, the appearance has to change, because a lot of players these days, you can see, they want to look the part. They want to look really good, and that is not a good look,” commented the Padres announcers during the game. Nevertheless, he seems to believe that he is helping to make the difference. “I think [children] should be using [the caps] because they use aluminum [bats], and the ball comes off the aluminum harder than the bat we are using,” he said.
Padres reliever Alex Torres first pitcher to wear protective cap in MLB game
Donning a new cap, Alex Torres makes a pitch for baseball safety