FILE - Toronto Blue Jays catcher Payton Henry, right, sits in the bullpen during a baseball spring training workout Feb. 18, 2024, in Dunedin, Fla. Current Buffalo Bisons catcher Henry was hospitalized Friday, May 31, 2024, after he was struck by a batter's backswing and carted off the field on a stretcher. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) – Catcher Payton Henry of the Buffalo Bisons was hospitalized overnight after he was struck by a batter’s backswing on Friday night and carted off the field on a stretcher.
In a statement Saturday, the Toronto Blue Jays’ Triple-A affiliate said Henry was discharged from hospital and “doing well as he continues to rest and recover.”
Henry was hit in the back of the head by the swing from Syracuse Mets third baseman Pablo Reyes in the seventh inning. He immediately went to the ground upon contact and athletic trainers tended to him.
“You hate seeing that,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said Saturday. “For one, Payton is such an unbelievable human and person, so you hate seeing that. As a former catcher, too, you kind of know what that’s like.
“He’s doing all right, which is a good thing, but that’s all we have. He’s trending in the right direction.”
Officials decided not to continue the game after the injury.
The Mets were up 4-2 at NBT Bank Stadium when the game was called.
The Bisons said later in the night that Henry was “alert and appropriately responsive” at a hospital after what they called a “scary incident.”
In their statement Saturday, they thanked the Mets and the medical support team at Upstate University Hospital for their assistance.
The 26-year-old Henry was picked by the Milwaukee Brewers in the sixth round of the 2016 amateur draft. He played in college at BYU.
Henry was assigned to the Bisons after signing a minor-league deal with the Blue Jays last December.
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With files from The Canadian Press.
AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports
