Feb 25, 2025; West Palm Beach, Florida, USA; New York Mets right fielder Tyrone Taylor (15) returns to the dugout against the Houston Astros during the fourth inning at CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

Mets outfielder sends sad message about hitting umpire in head with line drive

Originally posted on New York Mets on SI | By Grant Young | Last updated Apr 17, 2025 2:00 PM ET

A scary situation took place during the New York Mets' April 16 game against the Minnesota Twins. Outfielder Tyrone Taylor was hitting off of Twins pitcher Louis Varland in the sixth inning when he smacked a line drive down the first base line.

The line drive hit first base umpire Hunter Wendelstedt in the side of the head, which immediately sent him to the ground. Minnesota's Target Field was stunned silent while Wendelstedt lay on the ground, where he remained for several minutes while being attended to by his fellow umpires and a Twins training staff member.

Scary moment in Minnesota as @MLB Umpire Hunter Wendelstedt took a line drive off his temple pic.twitter.com/vrcVnsKjC8
— Mike Lawrence (@AwesemYo) April 16, 2025

Wendelstedt ultimately was able to leave the field of play, and the game continued with three umpires. After the game, Taylor spoke out about his unfortunate involvement in this incident.

“I saw it like I was watching it in slow motion,” Taylor said of the incident, according to an April 16 article from Mike Puma of the New York Post. “It was just scary.”

He later added, “It feels like it was my fault."

If there's any good news to be gleaned from the article, it's that Puma quotes the game's crew chief, Todd Tichenor, saying that Wendelstedt was "coherent, speaking," after the incident occurred.

Tyrone Taylor opens up on ‘scary’ foul ball that struck umpire Hunter Wendelstedt in head: ‘Feels like it was my fault’ https://t.co/4cDvtq2FQ5 pic.twitter.com/IItHUTJjWv
— New York Post (@nypost) April 17, 2025

It's too bad to hear that Taylor is assuming blame for a situation he had no control over. The bottom line is that baseball can be a dangerous game at times, especially at the highest levels.

Luckily, it seems that Wendelstedt avoided a more serious injury, which should hopefully make Taylor feel better about what went down.

This article first appeared on New York Mets on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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