House back with Blue Jays after suffering head injury

DUNEDIN, Florida — Toronto Blue Jays reliever T.J. House was discharged from hospital Saturday, one day after he was hit on the head by a line drive during a spring-training game.

House arrived at Toronto’s spring training ballpark during Saturday’s game between the Blue Jays and Philadelphia Phillies. Philadelphia won 8-2.

“Obviously, it was definitely a rough day yesterday,” House said. “Whirlwind experience. And I’m doing a lot better than I thought I would be doing today.”

House was taken off the field in an ambulance Friday. He was struck in the ninth inning of a game against the Detroit Tigers and taken to Lakeland Regional Medical Center. Test results were normal and he was held overnight for observation, according to the Blue Jays.

“There were no fractures of the skull or anything, which is great, especially for the force it took,” House said.

Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said “there was blood on his face, blood in the glove — everything.” He described it as among the most frightening things he has seen in a baseball game.

House was hit on the back of the head by a ball off the bat of John Hicks. The ball ricocheted about 10 metres into the air before being caught by catcher Mike Ohlman.

House fell to his stomach and was face down on the mound for nearly 20 minutes while being tended to by trainers. He was put onto a stretcher and gave a thumbs-up to the crowd as he was placed into an ambulance.

“I was just asking them when [the ambulance] was going to be here,” House said. “Could I please just get off the field? I just want to get out of here. That was the worst part, and not knowing what was going to happen to me.”

House will proceed cautiously for a few days. “Then we’re going to go from there,” he said.