Carlos Martinez's return to the Cardinals' roster from the disabled list may be brief.
Martinez was struck in the chest area by a 109.8 mph line drive hit by the Dodgers' Joc Pederson on Tuesday night in Los Angeles, just hours after Martinez had been activated. Martinez fell to the ground and appeared to be in considerable discomfort.
Team medical personnel rushed out to attend to him after the Cardinals had recorded the final out of the eighth inning on the play.
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Martinez, who was the Cards' Opening Day starting pitcher, was working in his new role as a reliever after missing three weeks with a lat strain. It's not clear whether the liner aggravated that injury. ( UPDATE: Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that Martinez underwent a chest X-ray and the Cardinals considered the results to be "encouraging." Martinez later told reporters that Pederson's liner knocked the wind out of him.)
Martinez says he’s doing well, caught his breath. Was scary, he says, because he first “saw black” as he couldn’t take in any air. #stlcards https://t.co/y141xk1DHG
— Derrick Goold (@dgoold) August 22, 2018
Bud Norris replaced Martinez to begin the bottom of the ninth inning. Norris recorded the final three outs and the save in St. Louis' 5-2 victory.
This article has been updated with comments from Martinez and a new location where Martinez was struck.
