Willie Calhoun hit in face, suffers fractured jaw

Texas Rangers outfielder Willie Calhoun was hit in the face by a pitch from the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Julio Urias in today’s spring training game. Calhoun went down and was down for several moments, having to be tended to by the trainers. Calhoun got up under his own power, but was taken off the field on a cart and is no doubt being sent for X-rays.

We shall have to wait and see what the word is on Calhoun, but this is potentially a big blow...Calhoun had come to camp for the first time with a starting job locked down, and the hope was that he would be taking a big step forward in 2020, establishing himself as a legitimate middle-of-the-order force for Texas. Calhoun will instead by sidelined indefinitely, and depending on the severity of the injury, he could be on the injured list to start the season.

If Calhoun is going to be unavailable to start the season, one would expect that Nick Solak would get the bulk of the playing time in Calhoun’s place in left field. Solak, a righthanded bat in search of a position, is currently working in center field, but would seem to be the best option to step in at left field if someone was needed to temporarily occupy that spot.

UPDATE — Calhoun has reportedly been sent to St. Joseph’s Hospital in Phoenix for further evaluation.

UPDATE II — Willie has a fractured jaw, per John Blake. We will have more info tomorrow, but at this point, I think the best case scenario is a return some time in May.