Unusual fan interaction leads to Blue Jays' outfielder Jesús Sánchez's early exit

Jesús Sánchez may avoid getting his name on the list of the most unusual injuries to occur in baseball. The history of the game has been littered with weird stories. Already this year the Matthew Boyd of the Chicago Cubs suffered an injury to the meniscus in his left knee while sitting down to play with his children. There are guys who have injured themselves getting into the shower, stubbing their toes on a piano, or getting hurt while celebrating too hard.

But the Toronto Blue Jays outfielder may, or may not, have his name in the weird injury history books after an incident on Sunday afternoon (May 31) during the Blue Jays' 9-5 loss to the Orioles in Baltimore. During a pitching change, Sánchez appeared to be talking to some fans and he held his glove up in their direction. He then looks away and a ball comes flying out of the stands and hits Sánchez directly on his throwing hand.

Blue Jays' training staff came out to check on him and removed him from the game. He underwent X-rays immediately and the results were negative. With an off-day on Monday, that may allow Sánchez the time to rest and recover. If not, he may need to go on the 10-day Injured List which would surely put him among this hallowed hall of freak accidents.

Sánchez says it was a misunderstanding between himself and the fan

After the game, Sánchez spoke to reporters about the incident and through an interpreter he said, "It's just that there was a misunderstanding, a bad confusion. Where I raised my glove, they believed that I was asking for the ball. But it was never like that. It hurts a little bit,” he said. “Thank God there’s nothing, no fracture or something like that. I’ll be all right.”

The Orioles posted a statement after the game that said, "We have identified the fan and removed them from the ballpark while we conduct a thorough investigation." It appeared as if the fan was escorted out of their seats with an adult by law enforcement. Manager John Schneider said after the game that he and the Blue Jays didn't think there was anything nefarious going on.

"You can see him in the box, he loves playing the game, he loves having fun. So I think that can, kind of, be misunderstood at times. And I’m sure the kid feels bad. I’m assuming there’s no ill intent there. Just yeah, ball coming on the field during the inning, it’s something that shouldn’t happen.”

Sánchez is currently slashing .287/.324/.461 in his first season with the Blue Jays, a team that could really use a bit of good news on the health front. They've already dealt with a wealth of injuries this year and to lose Sánchez for any length of time would just be another blow to a team that's trying to get fully healthy and get on a roll.

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