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Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sport
Andy Nesbitt

Angels Player Got Hit in Head With His Own Bat Thanks to Cardinals’ Careless Catcher

Angels shortstop Nicky Lopez needed a moment after this painful mistake by Cardinals catcher Ivan Herrera. | @MLB

Los Angeles Angels shortstop Nicky Lopez was standing in the batter's box after taking a ball against the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday when he was suddenly hit in the head by his own bat.

How could something like that happen? Well, Cardinals catcher Ivan Herrera went to throw the ball back to the pitcher but instead he threw it right into Lopez's bat, which then struck him in the head so hard that his helmet popped off.

This was easily one of the weirdest moments of the young 2025 season and it took a slo-mo replay for us to figure out what in the world happened during what is normally such a basic move in a baseball game.

Making matters worse for Lopez was that he struck out swinging a few pitches later.

Double ouch.


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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Angels Player Got Hit in Head With His Own Bat Thanks to Cardinals’ Careless Catcher.

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