A pitch to the face can't keep Josh Donaldson down

If you needed any confirmation that Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson is one of the toughest guys in Major League Baseball, you got it on Friday night.

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For a brief moment, the baseball world collectively held its breath after Donaldson was struck in the left cheek by a pitch from Kansas City’s Kelvin Herrera. Then, just as quickly, our freight turned to awe as Donaldson bounced to his feet and lobbied to remain in the game.

Sure enough, Donaldson was allowed to continue after a quick examination from Toronto’s head athletic trainer. Apparently no symptoms have popped up since, as there was no reported change in Donaldson’s condition following Toronto’s 4-3 victory. He’s just one tough and obviously very lucky dude.

The truly fortunate part is that Donaldson was hit by an 86.8 mph change up from Herrera. Granted, 86.8 mph is no walk in the park, but Herrera had been one or two ticks below 100 mph during that same inning with his fastball. The difference in speed and reaction time likely made the difference in Donaldson avoiding a serious injury.

Every video and photo looks more frightening than the one before. Since Donaldson’s fine, perhaps we should check on the baseball.

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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at bigleaguestew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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