Bradley Escapes Major Injury After Line Drive To Face

Archie Bradley doesn't expect to be sidelined for long after being struck in the face with a line drive during a Tuesday night game against the Colorado Rockies.

The Arizona Diamondbacks rookie and former Broken Arrow High School star escaped major injuries, suffering only a slight sinus fracture.

Bradley says team doctors told him it would be more painful to surgically repair the fracture than to let it heal on its own.

The Diamondbacks placed Bradley on the 15-day disabled list Wednesday afternoon, but he plans to be ready to go as soon as he can be reinstated.

"Based on what the doctor told me, once the swelling goes down, I can get into more strenuous activity," Bradley told reporters Wednesday. "I think the plan is obviously we're going to monitor it day-to-day, but 15 days should be the max as long as there are no complications or setbacks."

Bradley's agent, Jay Franklin, was amazed at how minor his client's injuries were. 

"I've been around baseball a long time, and to see something that severe turn out to be that mild is always a blessing," Franklin explained Wednesday in Broken Arrow. "Archie just FaceTimed me a minute ago, and he looked good. The swelling has kind of moved down to a little bit lower portion of the neck, his cheek bone down to his clavicle, but he's doing good."

Bradley said he doesn't remember the play, but watched a replay on his phone while being evaluated in the training room. 

“When I came back in here, I was sitting [on the training table] and they were looking in my mouth, I pulled it up on the MLB app and was like 'wow, that was bad.' It just happened so fast. I remember throwing the pitch, and the next thing I know I was laying on the ground looking at the dirt, and I was like 'I don't know what just happened?'” Bradley explained. “I'm not in a ton of pain, a little bit of pain, but after watching the video from numerous angles, I'm just lucky. I don't know how it wasn't worse than it is, so [I'm] just lucky, blessed, and fortunate."

Bradley is 2-0 with a 1.80 ERA in 20 innings pitched this season.