The St. Louis Cardinals’ Daniel Poncedeleon dazzled on the mound with no-hit pitching in his first major league appearance Monday night, just 14 months after his career and life were on the line.
Poncedeleon was starting for the Triple-A minor league Memphis Redbirds in Tennessee last year when he was struck in the right temple by a line drive, suffering a fracture and epidural hematoma (brain bleed) requiring emergency surgery.
He missed the remainder of the minor league season and now reportedly wears a carbon fiber insert in his ball cap.
The 26-year-old right-hander threw seven no-hit innings against the Cincinnati Reds before he was removed for a pinch hitter, making him just the second pitcher to do so in a major league debut. Ross Stripling did it for the Dodgers in 2016, throwing just over seven hitless innings.
(MORE: Houston Astros first base coach makes miraculous post-op recovery) (MORE: High school baseball players who put friendship and sportsmanship over celebrations receive surprise honorary ESPY award)While Poncedeleon made the come back of his career, his valiant effort wasn’t enough for the Cards, whose bullpen blew the 1-0 lead and fell to the Reds 2-1 in the bottom of the ninth inning.