Kevin Gorman: Credit Pirates GM for calling for concussion-related rule changes
Neal Huntington deserves credit for stepping out of his comfort zone as Pittsburgh Pirates general manager to challenge Major League Baseball’s concussion protocol.
When Pirates catcher Francisco Cervelli took a broken bat off his mask in the fourth inning Saturday night against the Los Angeles Dodgers (but didn’t remove himself from the game until his at-bat in the bottom of the inning), it prompted Huntington to call attention to concussion concerns.
The Catcher who can’t catch a break. Francisco Cervellitakes a JocPeterson follow swing to the head. Forced to Leave the game again. pic.twitter.com/XsEzuoDMBi
— Bob Pompeani(@KDPomp) May 26, 2019
Cervelli has had six documented concussions, and possibly more that weren’t diagnosed. The Pirates placed him on the seven-day concussion injured list on Sunday, marking his third time since last June.
“Every single time he takes a ball off the mask,” Huntington said, “you hold your breath.”
This is where Huntington called for change, even though he knew there could be consequences. His suggestion only makes sense and is something MLB should seriously consider.
“We’ve had internal dialogue about do we need to assess a rule change in Major League Baseball that any player — not just catchers, but any player — that had an obvious concussion risk incident should be allowed to be removed from the game, taken off the field and into the locker room, be assessed by a doctor and a trainer, go through an extended period of time and then re-enter the game,” Huntington said. “Right now, all of this has to happen on the field with a trained professional. The symptoms sometimes are immediate and it’s an easy removal.”
It would be the logical move, putting a player’s health and safety before the game. Concussion protocol has changed dramatically over the last decade, but the rules have not.
The #SFGiants and Buster Posey have felt the pain of concussion, and fans worry. What do we know about the long-term health of baseball players who have concussions? Not much yet: My in-depth look: https://t.co/CjpOWnocoJ
— Henry Schulman (@hankschulman) May 27, 2019
It’s not that easy, however.
Huntington noted that the players face pressure in making a decision that has both a personal and professional impact. They don’t want to look soft or weak, whether it’s in front of their teammates or a big crowd, and they understand that coming out will leave their team shorthanded.
“He knows if he takes himself out and he’s the catcher, there’s only one other catcher and the game becomes a fiasco if that other catcher gets hurt,” Huntington said. “We’ve talked about it internally. We’ve not presented it to Major League Baseball. I’m sure now I’m going to get some phone calls, ‘Why didn’t you call us first?’”
If so, I’d turn that call around.
Why hasn’t MLB done something sooner?
As for Cervelli, the Pirates have explored everything from his catching stance to how close he squats to the plate and batter. They have found nothing to prove he should be doing anything different. In fact, they found the opposite to be true of the intimation that he should set up deeper behind the plate: It only increases the likelihood that he would take more foul balls off his facemask.
Cervelli has been victim to some seriously bad luck, especially with Joc Pederson’s broken bat. Cervelli insists that he wants to continue catching but he’s at a higher risk for concussion because of his history. At some point, the Pirates have to take that decision out of their catcher’s hands.
Shutting the 33-year-old Cervelli down from catching sounds simple, as he’s batting .193 with one home run and five RBIs and is in the final year of a three-year, $31-million contract. But he’s the Pirates’ highest-paid player this season at $11.5 million, and he’s their best catcher at calling a game behind the plate.
“We’ve had the conversation a lot,” Huntington said. “The challenge is, we have to also consider the player’s wishes. Francisco has been adamant that he wants to continue to catch. We are working to be respectful of that.
“At the same time, we are working to be sure we do what we need to do and what we can do to maybe protect him from himself. There could come a point when we get to that. We’re not there yet. I think Francisco would be quite unhappy if we told him he was never going to catch again for us for his own well-being. This is how he makes his living and I do get that we have a responsibility and an accountability as a part of that process – and the player also has a say.”
But the Pirates aren’t just worried about the now. They can’t turn a deaf ear to what Cervelli wants but neither should they turn a blind eye to what is best for his future.
“We care about this man and we want him to have a great post-playing career,” Huntington said. “We go through the protocol every single time, we follow it to the T every single time and we always try to err on the side of conservatism to allow him to be not one the best player he can be, but to have the best post-playing career.”
Early indications are that placing Cervelli on the seven-day concussion injured list was out of precaution, but his next concussion behind the plate for the Pirates should be his last.
This one should make MLB take notice and consider changing how it handles concussions.
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Kevin Gorman is a TribLive reporter covering the Pirates. A Baldwin native and Penn State graduate, he joined the Trib in 1999 and has covered high school sports, Pitt football and basketball and was a sports columnist for 10 years. He can be reached at kgorman@triblive.com.
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