Jesús Sánchez wasn’t “trying to play catch” — but a fan apparently was.
The Blue Jays outfielder was injured in bizarre fashion on Sunday, when he was hit in the hand by a ball thrown from the stands during a game against the Orioles.
During the sixth inning, Sánchez was talking with a fan in the outfield when he put his glove up, which seemingly led the fan to believe the MLB veteran wanted a ball thrown his way.
But the 28-year-old had put his glove down when the ball came flying his way, and he was left in pain when the ball hit him.
Sánchez was attended to by medical staff and ultimately left the field holding his hand.
He shared after the game through an interpreter that the situation with the fan was a “misunderstanding.”
“I wasn’t trying to play catch right there with them,” Sánchez told reporters.
“I just looked at them and they thought maybe that I wanted them to throw the ball back to me.”
The Blue Jays, who lost the game 9-5, said Sánchez had suffered a right wrist contusion, but that X-rays for a fracture had come back negative.
The Orioles also released a statement to reporters, which said that the fan had been identified and removed from Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
Sánchez is slashing a .287/.324/.461 line this season with 28 RBIs — and the Blue Jays will hope he doesn’t miss much time.