ALTOONA, PA – On May 26th against Miami Marlins’ affiliate Jupiter, Kevin Newman was hit by righty Esmerling De La Rosa in the top of the eighth inning. Newman was hit with a fastball to the side of his eye, and was immediately removed from the game.
That night, doctors performed eye tests on Newman, and it was decided that there was no damage or injury to his eyeball or his vision. The damage was simply done to the orbital bone on the outside part of his eye socket. The muscle behind his eye was not pinched or affected, meaning that there was no need for surgery.
“We did some eye tests the night it actually happened, and the eye was fine,” Newman said after he arrived in Altoona. “Thankfully, there was no ill-effect on the actual eyeball or my vision.”
He was in Pittsburgh during the first week of June to have more tests done, and it was deemed that he would be able to return to play much sooner than the other cases of orbital injuries that we have become accustomed to seeing in Pittsburgh.
“[The injury] could kind of heal itself,” Newman said. “For the amount of time I was out, they had to ease me back into playing, since I was out for 12-14 days.”
Newman was out of the Bradenton lineup for 19 days total after the injury, and during that time, he took reps at Pirate City and saw some live pitching.
“That got me much more comfortable,” Newman said, as he also pointed out that he is wearing the eye guard on his batting helmet now, too.
Ultimately, there was nothing quiet about the return he made to Bradenton. He made his return on June 14th and played three games with the Marauders, going 7-for-11 with a double, triple, and home run. With Cole Tucker being promoted to Bradenton while Newman was out of the lineup, combined with the fact that Newman crushed the ball after returned, it was inevitable that Newman received the call to Altoona sooner rather than later.
In the early hours of the 17th, Newman was on a plane to western Pennsylvania to join the Curve lineup. He figured that a promotion was nigh and felt he was ready for the organizational promotion.
“You always set your hopes high as a player,” Newman said. “All players always want to progress as quickly as they can to eventually get to the goal of playing in the big leagues. The Pirates felt that I was ready, and I think I’m ready as well. I look forward to playing [in Altoona].”
He threw on a jersey and did some coaching at first base that night before being activated this past Saturday.
“I didn’t get us a run, so I was done,” Newman laughed about acting as first base coach during the game before being activated.
He made his Double-A debut on Saturday night in Altoona, going 2-for-5 with two line drive singles and a couple of RBIs. His debut ended up being the first game since Austin Meadows’ promotion to Triple-A, as the Curve lost one first round draft pick and gained another.
Newman said he did talk to Meadows about their respective injuries, but the injuries themselves ended up being very different.
“It was kind of different because we didn’t know if I would need surgery for a while,” Newman said. “His situation was different, because he got hit more in the eyeball. Mine was on the side. We talked about it, but it wasn’t the exact same thing.”
Newman now steps right in to become an essential piece of this Altoona offensive attack, as he will presumably be the everyday leadoff hitter and shortstop. Moving up another professional level, Newman simply wants to continue to develop his all-around game.
“You know the skill levels are obviously better here, and pitchers can throw off speed in more counts and more effectively,” Newman said. “I’m just looking to advance my bat and improve my defense.”
Curve Manager Joey Cora chimed in on what he expects from Newman at this level. Cora said that Newman has a lot to learn at this level, as he is a jack of many trades but a master of none at this point in his career.
“He’s got a long way to go and a lot of details he needs to work through,” Cora said. “He doesn’t have a super tool — not the best at this or that — but he has a lot of good tools, and if you put them all together, you get a pretty good player. He needs to learn the game a little bit more with a lot of details to work through.”
Cora then said it best about the 2015 first rounder.
“They don’t give you cookies because you’re a first round draft pick. He’s going to be here for the rest of this season, and he’s going to have a lot of game time to develop.”
