Mets first baseman Jared Young was carted off the field in the sixth inning of Thursday night’s 3-0 loss to Philadelphia after he was knocked out when struck on the head by a knee of pitcher Nolan McLean as the two converged on Justin Crawford’s slow grounder.
New York manager Andy Green said a CT scan at a hospital was negative. Young had concussion symptoms and full use of his extremities, according to Green.
“It was a terrifying moment on a baseball field,” Green said. “Took him a while to come to. It was a really scary collision.”
With the Phillies ahead 1-0, McLean broke to first on contact and Young initially moved back toward the bag. McLean briefly paused, at which point Young reached for the ball with his right hand as he tried to keep a foot on the base.
McLean resumed running. then collided with Young’s head, tripping over the first baseman as Crawford crossed the bag. Young fell face first to the ground and was motionless.
“It was scary to sit there and just know that he wasn’t with us in that moment,” Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor said. “He was just somewhere else.”
Green and an athletic trainer immediately ran out from the dugout, and a cart was summoned.
McLean put his hands on his knees and bent down as all the Mets on the field gathered near Young. Catcher Francisco Alvarez appeared to be praying and members of both teams looked on from the dugouts. Philadelphia’s Alec Bohm took a knee next to third base.
“It was weird. You couldn’t tell what happened,” said Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly, a former big league first baseman. “I heard it was bad. Hopefully the kid’s all right.”
When Young came to, Green said the first baseman asked: “What happened?”
Young was immobilized on the cart and flashed a thumbs up before the cart disappeared behind the left-center field fence.
“He’s had a CT scan. Results have come back negative,” Green said. “So in that sense it’s very positive. Still experiencing real concussion symptoms right now but has full use of his extremities and feels at this point in time like we’ve avoided the scariest outcomes.”
Young, a 31-year-old in his first full big league season, has established himself as a regular first baseman by hitting .266 with nine homers and 39 RBIs in 103 games. He missed six weeks with a left knee injury.
“He’s somebody we all respect and appreciate and have love for,” Lindor said. “He’s been a big part of our team this whole year.”
McLean was shaken by the collision. He remained in the game and threw a called third strike past Garrett Stubbs, ending the inning.
“Probably should have made a better decision not even letting him get the next hitter but he was still strong enough to do it and got back out there and did it,” Green said. “I think the humanity hit him pretty hard right there.”
McLean was removed by Green for reliever Tobias Myers at the start of the seventh. The rookie right-hander threw 82 pitches, his fewest since May 25.
“Still was willing to go back out the next inning. Didn’t feel that was in his best interest at that point in time,” Green said.
