CLEVELAND — Cleveland Guardians designated hitter David Fry suffered a broken nose and facial fractures after absorbing a 99-mph fastball from Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal on Tuesday.
Fry, who was placed on the IL on Wednesday, spent the night at the Cleveland Clinic main campus for observation. Outfielder Johnathan Rodriguez was recalled from AAA to take Fry’s place on the roster.
An update on David Fry.#GuardsBall pic.twitter.com/kxXyrzogQu
— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) September 24, 2025
Fry squared to bunt in the chaotic bottom of the sixth inning in which the Guardians scored three runs without ever hitting the ball out of the infield. Left fielder Steven Kwan and center fielder Angel Martínez had already reached base via bunts in the inning.
As Fry attempted to make contact on his bunt attempt, the ball evaded his bat and instead struck him in the face. Manager Stephen Vogt said Fry “stayed conscious the whole time,” as trainers tended to him and then accompanied him on a cart that took him off the field.
“He’s injured. He’s hurting. He’s in a ton of pain,” Vogt said Wednesday. “But as far as life goes, he’s gonna be OK. Anytime with a head injury, you worry about the long-term effects of that, but he’s been cleared of any kind of brain or head-type stuff. That’s really what matters. Broken bones heal. That doesn’t mean he’s not going to be in pain. But we’re all really, really happy that David’s OK.”
Fry was initially taken to Lutheran Medical Center before being transferred to the Cleveland Clinic. After the game, Vogt drove Skubal to the hospital and dropped off Skubal at the Tigers’ hotel afterward. Fry was released from the hospital on Wednesday and is home resting. His family is traveling to Cleveland to be with him.
Soon after the incident, Fry flashed a double thumbs-up both while lying in the dirt and as he passed the home dugout. Both as he was leaving the field and when he was at the hospital later in the evening, Fry was in good spirits and was joking with teammates that he should have used his bat and not his face.
“Definitely really scary,” Kwan said. “For David to even try something like that, that’s just who he is, a selfless kind of guy, especially in a position like that. He’s a tough guy. Thankfully, he had some humor when he came up, but you don’t want to see a guy that’s been with you pretty much the whole year and, energy-wise, who he is as a teammate, he’s meant so much to us as a team. To see him go down like that was scary.”
Fry was a postseason hero for the Guardians last October, as he rescued them from an ALDS exit with a go-ahead home run in Game 4 in Detroit. He slugged a walk-off blast into the left-field bleachers at Progressive Field in Game 3 of the ALCS against the New York Yankees.
When the season ended, he underwent Tommy John surgery, which delayed his 2025 debut until June 1 and has limited him to designated hitter duties. Fry has primarily served this season as the team’s cleanup hitter against left-handed starters.
The Guardians have won 16 of 18 to erase an AL Central deficit that stood at 15 1/2 games in early July and as many as 11 games in September. Their 5-2 win over Skubal and the Tigers on Tuesday pulled them into a tie atop the division, though the Guardians clinched the season series and, therefore, the tiebreaker.
(Photo: Nick Cammett / Getty Images)
