For the Yomiuri Giants, Tuesday morning’s batting practice went from routine to horrifying in a split second. A star shortstop of the Nippon Professional League had to be rushed to the hospital after he was struck in the face by a batted ball, collapsing to the ground.

Yuta Izuguchi was hit while warming up at the Nagano Olympic Stadium. He dropped to the ground, was taken off the field, and went straight to a hospital in Nagano City. Nikkan Sports reported the incident on X.

“During early morning practice at the Nagano Olympic Stadium, a batted ball struck player Yuta Izuguchi directly in the face. He is being transported to the hospital by stretcher.”

According to Nikkan Sports, Izuguchi was stretchered directly into the ambulance waiting near the left field foul pole. Once the shortstop was settled inside, the ambulance drove across the field and left through a gate near the right-field foul pole.

Doctors at the hospital diagnosed Izuguchi with a concussion, facial contusions, and oral lacerations. Because of the head injury, the team took him off the active roster so he could recover safely.

Last season, Izuguchi won an array of accolades. He became the NPB All-Star and won the NPB Best Nine Award for his performance as a shortstop. The Giants’ player also won the Central League Mitsui Golden Glove award in 2025.

The Giants started Izuguchi at shortstop and batted him third in every game so far this season. His slash line reads .271/.443/.333, with 3 homers and 8 RBI in 19 games this year.

Now, the NPB club has reportedly replaced Izuguchi with Yusei Ishizuka on the roster. The young infielder hasn’t played a game yet this year. Last season, he appeared in nine games and batted just .111.

Not just NPB, MLB also had its fair share of injuries early in the season.

The Toronto Blue Jays’ pitcher, Cody Ponce, will miss the entire season after undergoing right ACL surgery. The injury occurred in his first MLB start in five years against the Colorado Rockies on March 30, while fielding a grounder.

And even in NPB, Izuguchi isn’t the only one with an injury.

Chunichi Dragon’s third baseman Hiroki Fukunaga also ended up in the hospital after a mid-game accident.

Hiroki Fukunaga suffered from a scary head injury

The game between the Chunichi Dragons and the Hanshin Tigers on April 18 came to a sudden halt because the Dragons’ Hiroki Fukunaga suffered from a serious head injury.

In the third inning, Fukunaga chased a fly ball, tripped into the photographers’ area, and fell face-first into a camera. Bleeding heavily, he collapsed on the ground, and the umpires had to call for a stretcher to carry him off the field.

“He is bleeding. It’s a laceration to his head… It’s related to his head. We can only hope that the examination will show that it’s nothing serious,” the Dragons’ manager, Kazuki Inoue, told the reporters after the match.

The match ended in a 4-3 loss for the Dragons.

According to the manager, the third baseman also experienced some memory loss. Before the injury, Fukunaga was having a solid season. He was hitting .294, going 20-for-68 at the plate with one home run and five RBIs.

The Dragons have now ruled him out of the upcoming games.