CHIN & BEAR IT
Voit wears guard day after being hit in face
Luke Voit had a new look Sunday, but the same results.
After being hit in the face with a pitch Saturday, Voit was back in the lineup — wearing a face guard for added protection.
The fact he started was hardly a surprise, considering Voit didn’t leave the game immediately after Chad Bettis’ 91 mph fastball brushed his face in Saturday’s win.
Voit said he was “all good” before the Yankees lost to the Rockies, 8-4, at the Stadium.
He added he thought it would be worse initially.
“When it happened, I grabbed my face and I was like, ‘ Uh oh,’ ” Voit said. “But then it wasn’t as bad as I thought. Just a scary thing. I thought [it was a] broken jaw and my teeth were going to be all scattered everywhere, but nothing.’’
The first baseman acknowledged he was fortunate not to have been seriously injured on the play in the fourth inning. He stayed at first base, scored on a Gleyber Torres single and was replaced in the fifth. Voit went into the concussion protocol and passed all tests.
He likened it to “a punch in the face’’ and felt sore Sunday morning.
“I dodged a bullet and got lucky,’’ Voit said. “I think it deflected a little, but I just turned my face at the right time, too, so I deflected a little bit. It’s still scary.”
For that reason, Voit wore a face guard Sunday, similar to ones used by Gary Sanchez and Torres.
“It’s good,’’ Voit said after going 0-for-4 with two strikeouts. “I’m just trying to get used to it. I tried two different ones out before the game. One’s a little higher than the other one with the face guard.’’
He didn’t blame his performance on the new helmet.
“Just a bad day,’’ said Voit, who also made a costly error at first. “I feel like I let my team down today. I’ve just got to get back to the drawing board [Monday]] and have a fresh week.”
He still has just one ex-tra-base hit since return-ing from an abdominall injury on July 13.
Voit expects to continue to see high pitches up and in.
“It’s happened probablyy 30 times this year, so it’s just how they’re pitching nowadays,’’ Voit said. “That’s how they pitch me and [Giancarlo Stanton], for another example. Just up and in, down and away.”