Lugo in good spirits following line drive scare, will continue monitoring head injury

KANSAS CITY – Seth Lugo joked as he entered the Royals’ clubhouse Thursday morning that he was hoping to see some laces on his forehead or a bit more purple rather than the red welt that formed following the line drive that hit his head Wednesday night.

“There’s nothing to it,” Lugo said with a wry grin.

That says a lot about how Lugo is feeling the morning after a scary situation ensued Wednesday, when he exited his start against the Rangers after Brandon Nimmo’s 106.6 mph line drive hit Lugo on the forehead. Lugo was able to walk off the field on his own and even joke with Nimmo that he should have hit the changeup “out to the fountains” rather than right at him.

Lugo went through the necessary testing and protocol Wednesday night, and his CT scan came back clear, which is an even better sign. With the welt that has formed on his head, Lugo said he feels the throbbing when he bends over but hasn’t had any headaches. His left elbow is cut up and actually hurts the most from falling on it.

“Squared me up on the forehead pretty good,” Lugo said. “Didn’t lose consciousness or anything. I felt the swelling pretty quick. I feel all right. Get up, regroup. I know after getting hit in the head, you’re coming out of the game, so there’s no point in arguing.

“That’s a pitcher’s nightmare. I was very, very lucky that it was kind of a glancing blow instead of straight on. I think the ricochet was a really good thing. I’m obviously happy about that.”

Lugo will continue to be monitored for symptoms before determining when his next start will be. He said it was too early to tell whether he’ll be able to stay on a normal five-day schedule.

“With any head trauma like that, you got to keep monitoring, see if any symptoms develop or anything,” manager Matt Quatraro said.

Lugo said he appreciated all of the support he received from his teammates and the Rangers, including Nimmo, who ran over right away to check on Lugo on the mound. The two were teammates on the Mets from 2016-22.

“He was shaken up pretty good,” Lugo said. “I was really just trying to calm him down. ‘I’m OK, Nimms.’ He’s always been a sweetheart like that. As a buddy of mine, I felt for him. You’ve hit guys before as a pitcher, and you feel bad. So that was just an unfortunate situation, but everything’s OK.”