Orlando Arcia chose the correct type of helmet this winter.
Playing in the Venezuelan Winter League for Leones del Caracas, Arcia's been wearing an "ear flap" helmet, with an additional piece of protective armor that extends down the left side of his face.
And that's a good thing.
Facing Navegantes del Magallanes with a 7-0 lead in the 8th inning of Wednesday night's matchup, Arcia ended up wearing a fastball right to that ear flap.
Benches promptly cleared, although it appears that Arcia stayed out of the fray as he was tended to by trainers.
Here's the video, courtesy of Beisbol Play:
According to reports, this is the third-such bases clearing incident initiated against Magallanes in recent weeks, who is only 23-28 and has already lost ten games in the month of December alone.
Injury concerns from winter ball have been a talking point this offseason, with two highly touted prospects, infielder Ronny Mauricio of the New York Mets (ACL) and catcher Endy Rodriguez (UCL) of the Pittsburgh Pirates suffering significant injuries that will cause them to miss most (Mauricio) or all (Rodriguez) of the 2024 season.
But per reports, Arcia's okay and we'll have to hope that he makes it through the rest of the winter ball season intact. Leones del Caracas has four games remaining on their 2023 regular season schedule, including a finale against Ronald Acuña Jr's Tiburones de la Guaira on Wednesday, December 27th.
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