Brewers pitcher already on IL suffers new scary injury before Monday's game

The Milwaukee Brewers and one of their pitchers got a big scare before Monday's game against the Pittsburgh Pirates as a simple jog during batting practice ended up with a trip to a local hospital.

Jakob Junis was getting some cardio work in on the field in the form of a light jog while batting practice was taking place when he was apparently struck in the neck by a fly ball. Trainers were seen attending to him shortly after he was hit.

As Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel observed, Junis had been down on the field being tended to for at least 15 minutes at which point an ambulance pulled on to the field. He was taken away from the stadium after that.

Afterward, the Milwaukee Brewers released a statement on Junis' condition. There was encouraging news to report as they stated the pitcher was "conscious, alert and responsive," and they also confirmed that he was "sent to the hospital for further evaluation."

Junis is in his first season with the Milwaukee Brewers after signing a contract this offseason that pays him $4MM this year and has a mutual option with a $3MM buyout for 2025. He had previously spent seven seasons as an MLB pitcher in the Royals and Giants organizations.

The 31-year-old righty had made one start for the Crew so far this season, giving up one run over four innings in a 3-2 victory over the Twins on April 2nd. A few days later, he was placed on the injured list with a right shoulder impingement, a move that Junis and the team hoped would help get him healthy quick and increase his availability for the rest of the season.

Junis had been throwing on flat ground recently and was still some time out from returning to the rotation. Now his stay on the IL may be extended, which is not great news for a unit that just saw DL Hall join him on the IL a few days ago and Wade Miley do the same on Monday.

It was a scary situation for the Brewers pitcher but hopefully the hospital stay was just precautionary and everything ends up alright. That's the important thing to worry about before focusing on anything related to the field.