Padres prospect Paplham stable despite facial fractures from line drive

PEORIA, Ariz. -- Padres right-hander Cole Paplham sustained multiple facial fractures after he was struck in the face by a line drive on Sunday, but he has remained alert and is in decent spirits, manager Mike Shildt said Monday.

Paplham was hit in the face by a 102.4 mph line drive off the bat of Dodgers first baseman Aaron Bracho in the eighth inning of Sunday¡¯s game at Camelback Ranch. He was taken to the ER, Shildt said, and discharged later Sunday night.

¡°Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with him,¡± Shildt said. ¡°The good news is he¡¯s stable. He spent some time in the ER, as you would expect. ¡­ They¡¯re working through all the concussion protocol stuff. But he is alert, and they¡¯re trying to figure out, with some further testing, what the next steps are.¡±

Paplham was evaluated by Padres medical staff on the field for several minutes but remained conscious and alert throughout. He stood and walked to a golf cart under his own power, then was carted off the field.

Bracho¡¯s liner appeared to strike Paplham on the right side of his face in the area of his cheek/jaw. It comes three days after Dodgers right-hander Bobby Miller was also struck by a line drive on the same Camelback Ranch mound. Miller remains in concussion protocol.

Paplham, the Padres¡¯ No. 26 prospect, owns a 3.89 ERA across parts of two Minor League seasons with the organization, reaching Double-A San Antonio last season.