MLB Pitcher Who Broke Finger Playing Video Games Explains What Happened

The Major League Baseball player who broke his pinky playing video games before a start and then pitched in a game has apologized to his manager and teammates, while he also explained how it happened. Jesus Luzardo of the Oakland Athletics said this week that he sustained the injury about four hours before his game on Saturday against the Baltimore Orioles, but he didn't say which game he was playing. He also stressed that he didn't suffer the break due to a moment of anger; instead, it was bad luck, he said.

"I'm a 23-year-old kid, I make mistakes," Luzardo said, via the Associated Press. "I feel like a lot of people don't realize that we are people as well and we make mistakes, the same mistakes that fans make, the same mistakes that people that work normal jobs make."

"It was an immature mistake and it was a stupid mistake. But I still made a mistake and that's something that I'm going to learn from and I'm not going to do again," Luzardo added.

The pitcher shared these details in a Zoom call, where he also demonstrated how his hand contacted the top of a table that led to the hairline fracture. According to the AP, Luzardo said the injury happened as a "reaction to something that happened in the game."

"There's no way for me to describe this in any other way other than stupid and maybe immature," he said. "I've never had something like this happen and I don't plan on anything like this happening again."

Luzardo's hand swelled up immediately after the injury, but he still started in the game against the Baltimore Orioles later that day after informing his team he was ready to go. The injury was on Luzardo's throwing hand, and he had a tough start, giving up six runs on five hits in just three innings. The A's would lose the game by a score of 8-4.

Luzardo said maybe it was adrenalin that convinced him he was feeling good enough to play. But after the game, Luzardo had an X-ray that showed a hairline fracture. He's now out indefinitely as he recovers. Luzardo also mentioned that he doesn't plan to stop playing video games.

"When I get back I'm going to play. I've played video games my whole life, this never happened to me," he said. "I don't plan on hitting my hand again, maybe I move a little farther away from the table next time."

This isn't the first video game drama in Major League Baseball. In 2018, the Boston Red Sox caught heat from local media over how much Fortnite they were playing. The players apparently enjoyed the game so much they forgot to eat food to stay alive.