A truly terrifying scene unfolded on the diamond in a Minor League contest in Virginia on Tuesday night.
During just the second at-bat of the Single-A game between the Hill City Howlers (Cleveland Guardians) and Fayetteville Woodpeckers (Houston Astros), Fayetteville’s Xavier Neyens was sitting on a 2-0 count in the batter’s box.
Hill City’s Aidan Major threw a ball up in the zone, but Neyens jumped on it, sending a screaming line drive directly back toward the pitcher.
In the blink of an eye, the baseball connected with Major squarely in the head. It was certainly one of those instances where the pitcher did not have any time whatsoever to react to the line drive heading right toward him.
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With trainers immediately sprinting to the mound to check on Major, the former West Virginia pitcher could be seen squirming on the ground in serious pain.
Major, who was drafted by Cleveland in the fifth round of the 2024 MLB Draft, fortunately managed to get up and take a cart off the field before undergoing further evaluation.
“He is in good hands,” Hill City Howlers play-by-play announcer Jason Prill explained during the team’s broadcast shortly after the play took place.
“He is with the Lynchburg EMS squad, who got here quite quickly. From the moment that the phone call was made to the time that they got here was probably about less than a minute. It was really impressive stuff. Great to see their response time and how quickly they were able to get to Aidan, help him up, and help him into a cart. Even better news, he gave a thumbs up as he exited the field.”
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Chad Major, Aidan’s father, took to X to share a positive update about his son on Tuesday evening.
“Aidan is doing well considering the scary event. Currently still in the hospital awaiting results from scans,” Chad wrote. “He wanted to get back to the stadium to cheer on his teammates.”
Major, 23, is enjoying a nice 2026 campaign, his first at any Minor League level.
The right-handed pitcher is carrying a 2-1 record and 3.10 ERA across a total of eight appearances and 29.0 innings of work. The former Mountaineer has also struck out 26 batters in his eight trips to the mound this season.
The Howlers managed to take down the Woodpeckers 5-4 on Tuesday despite Major’s exit and the scene that unfolded in the opening inning.
