After being hit in the face by Jason Kipnis’ line drive, Jordan Zimmermann was back in the Detroit Tigers’ clubhouse. On Wednesday night, two batters into the game against Cleveland Indians, Zimmermann was hit in the side of the face on a line drive from Kipnis in the first inning of the 5-1 loss to the Indians and felt fortunate enough to have come away with just a bruised jaw.
Zimmermann said, “Obviously it could’ve been worse. It could’ve been a break, but it still didn’t feel that great. I’m sure it’ll be worse tomorrow. I’ll be good to go next time around.”
As Zimmermann suffered from a broken jaw in the year 2007, he said that saved him from having a broken jaw this time. Zimmermann suffered a right jaw contusion and is still being evaluated. He later passed concussion protocol.
Zimmermann said that he saw it coming for a second and then felt it and went down. He said, “Just felt that all my teeth were there. My jaw wasn’t peeled in like it was the first time it happened. I think I got lucky.”
He further said that the first time he broke his jaw, they put a couple of plates in there and the doctor told me back in college that ‘You’ll never break it again.’ So, they decided to put it to the test on Wednesday night, and everything came back fine, he added.
Zimmermann, however, had visible swelling on the right side of his face that night. Zimmermann said that he pitched with his jaw wired shut back in the year 2007 and did not think it will be a big deal to come back and pitch after a moment that had got the teammates and Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire scared.
