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.
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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.
