Minor League baseball player Delino DeShields was hit in the face by a baseball traveling at 90-mph during a game on Friday, Apr. 18. According to TMZ, DeShields, who plays for the Houston Astros, suffered a broken left cheek bone and has been given a strict liquid diet until his face heals.
DeShields told the site that he is not able to eat solid foods yet because his teeth hurt him too bad so his current diet consists of muscle milk and other liquids.
"That's all I can really have right now," he told TMZ via text message. "I'm gonna be sick of it in a couple days lol. I can eat real food whenever my teeth don't hurt to chew."
The athlete told TMZ that he knows how painful his injury looks but is glad it didn't do any permanent damage.
"I can look at it and see how blessed I was that it wasn't worse, you know?" he said.
"I thought the nerves in my face were destroyed because my face was numb, but I'm getting feeling back so that's good," DeShields added.
As far as getting back on the field, DeShields said if he could have he would have been back in the game the day after his injury but his team is "being extra cautious" and wants him to sit out for a couple weeks.
DeShields seems to be in good spirits and told Fox Sports, via email, that he wasn't scared when he realized what had happened. After the baseball player was hit with the ball he said he lost conscious but his face swelled up immediately.
"I wasn't scared at all. Everything happens for a reason, as silly as that may sound considering I got a ball to my face," he said via email, according to Fox. "But at the end of the day, I'm blessed and I know that God has something in store for me."
"Right now I'm going great, man. I'm in high spirits, and, like I said, I'm just blessed that God is giving me a second chance to play the game I love. It's just a minor setback," DeShields added. "There's gotta be some major stuff that needs to happen to me before I can't step back on the field against my own will."
