Rangers' Josh Smith 6 stitches, but good after pitch to face

Updated Apr. 4, 2023 7:35 p.m. ET

Associated Press

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Rangers outfielder Josh Smith has six stitches on the lower right side of his face, a cut inside his mouth and some slight swelling, but no fractures after getting hit in the face with a pitch.

“I feel pretty good actually. I slept good,” Smith said Tuesday in the Rangers clubhouse. “It’s not as bad as I thought it was going to be. Really no pain or anything like that.”

The left-handed batter was struck in the face on a 1-0 pitch from Baltimore left-hander Danny Coulombe in Monday night's game. It was a scary situation when Smith spun back to his left and dropped to the dirt in the batter’s box, breaking his fall with his left hand while holding his bloodied face with his right hand.

Smith walked off the field and was taken to the hospital, but was released not long after watching the end of the game from there.

Smith said he had cleared concussion protocol, though he anticipated he would continue to be monitored to make sure there are no issues. He didn't lose any teeth, but said he would probably still see a dentist.

Manager Bruce Bochy said there were no immediate plans for Smith to go on the injured list. Smith, who started three of the team's first four games in left field, said he hoped to be back in less than a week.

After taking a first-pitch slider from Coulombe leading off the bottom of the third, Smith said he was anticipating another one since the scouting report was that the lefty is slider-heavy.

“I was really trying to focus on staying in (the batter’s box), and it just kind of two-seamed up and just kind of ran into me,” Smith said.

Coulombe had come on in relief to finish the second after Orioles starter Kyle Bradish departed because of a bruised right foot after he was struck by Jonah Heim’s liner. Four of the six pitches Coulombe threw to left-hander Brad Miller were sliders, the last a foul-tip strikeout for the inning-ending out.

Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said before Tuesday's game that Bradish was sore, and that could possibly affect the right-hander's next scheduled start.

When given an update on Smith's condition Tuesday, Coulombe responded, “Good, good, good.”

“I'm just really glad he's doing OK,” Coulombe said. “That's the worst part of this game. ... I did not want to (hit him), and they know that. I have a lot of really good friends on that team and I talked to them afterwards, said he’s in good spirits.”

Speaking of spirits, there was a new bottle of whiskey in Smith's locker before the game, an apparent gift sent over by the Orioles pitcher.

Smith said it didn't bother him to see the replay. He had already watched it a few times, even in slow motion.

“Looks like a boxer, like when they get punched and their whole face comes off their body,” Smith said.

Even though Smith had worn an extended flap on his batting helmet in the past, he hasn't worn one this season. He said he would when he returns to the lineup, even though he's not overly concerned about getting hit again.

“The chances of it happening again, I don’t want to jinx it, but are probably very low,” he said. “I don’t think I’ll have a problem getting back in. I’ve done it before. So I think the best thing is just to get back in, and not really think about it.”

Smith was hit in the mouth by a pitch in college, while playing for LSU against Southeastern Louisiana in February 2019. Despite a bloody lip, Smith stayed in that game and eventually scored the tying run in a Tigers victory. That was just a few months before he was a second-round draft pick by the Yankees, who traded him to Texas in a 2021 deadline deal that sent Joey Gallo to New York.

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