Fox: MLB Could Allow Head Protection For Pitchers

In an article from Jimmy Traina on Fox Sports, pitchers may be allowed to wear protective hats as early as next season.

From the article:

"They're coming," McCarthy said of the headgear. "From everything I know they'll be available this year. I don't believe they're going to be mandatory. Actually, I'm almost certain they won't be mandatory...

He said the headgear would look like a hat but would be able to protect a pitcher from serious injury...

McCarthy, as you might remember, suffered a serious injury when took a line drive off the side of his head during a game in 2012 when he was with the A's..."It should be strong enough and capable enough that literally if I got hit by the same exact ball I would have been able to keep pitching in that game," McCarthy said.

This is terrific. Seriously. We equip the catchers and batters to protect themselves, and now pitchers will be afforded the same type of protection. It was a matter of time and numbers before a prone pitcher after delivering a pitch was killed or maimed by a line drive. Let's hope this moves us off that path.

More importantly: not everyone who plays baseball does so in the majors. Hopefully, MLB moving to this will push Little League and other youth baseball programs to make this type of hat available to pitchers in their leagues.