Major League Baseball and its Players Association have approved a protective game cap for pitchers.
ESPN has reported that all 30 clubs were informed of the approval Tuesday morning.
“We're excited to have a product that meets our safety criteria,” said executive vice president for labor relations Dan Halem. “MLB is committed to working with manufacturers to develop products that offer maximum protection to our players, and we're not stopping at all.”
CBS Sports notes that the caps had to meet National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment. The standards were at 83 mph, which MLB has concluded as the average speed of a line drive when it reaches the pitcher's mound.
The league realized it needed to step up safety efforts after Oakland Athletics' pitcher Brandon McCarthy sustained a brain injury when he was hit in the head by a line drive.
In 2012, McCarthy took the hit off the bat of Erick Aybar of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. He underwent hours of surgery and testing revealed that he suffered an epidural hemorrhage, a brain contusion, and a skull fracture. He was unable to pitch the rest of the season.
These types of injuries can happen during the game as the pitchers are in extremely vulnerable positions on the mound. MLB’s hope is that these new protective padded caps can eliminate any further injuries like the one McCarthy suffered.