Padres place catcher Freddy Fermin on 7-day concussion injured list

BALTIMORE (AP) — The San Diego Padres placed catcher Freddy Fermin on the 7-day concussion injured list Sunday, one day after he was struck in the head with a warmup pitch in a game against the Baltimore Orioles.

Fermin was behind the plate when reliever Yuki Matsui bounced a throw in the dirt before the bottom of the sixth inning. The ball smacked Fermin in the side of the head, and he was forced to leave the game.

It wasn’t the first time Fermin had been hit in the head this year, and the collective results of those mishaps contributed to the decision to put the catcher on the concussion list.

“He’s had a few head shots here over the course of this season so far, and (that was) just another one,” manager Craig Stammen said Saturday. “He was a little woozy out there.”

The Padres selected the contract of catcher Blake Hunt from Triple-A El Paso. To make room for Hunt on the 40-man roster, pitcher Ty Adcock was designated for assignment.

Rodolfo Duran started behind the plate for San Diego in Sunday’s series finale at Camden Yards.

Fermin wasn’t the only Padres starter who was struck by a baseball on Saturday. In the fifth inning of San Diego’s 9-3 victory, shortstop Xander Bogaerts was hit in the head on a pitch from Orioles starter Trey Gibson. Although the 93.5 mph sinker hit Bogaerts directly on the helmet, he remained in the game before exiting in the sixth.

Bogaerts was in the starting lineup Sunday.

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