ANAHEIM, Calif. -- When the Los Angeles Angels' Matt Shoemaker last pitched against the Seattle Mariners, a line drive nearly cost the right-hander his career and his life.
Shoemaker suffered a fractured skull and cranial bleeding when a ball travelling 105 mph off Kyle Seager's bat hit the right side of his head in the second inning Sept. 4. The right-hander underwent brain surgery that evening to stop the bleeding and returned to California two days later, but concerns persisted about how the injury would affect is career.
The 30-year-old answered some of those concerns in spring training, when he amassed 21 strikeouts and walked just five in 17 innings, and will make his second start of the season Sunday against the Mariners.