NEW YORK (AP) - Big-league pitchers might feel safer on the mound this season.
Major League Baseball has approved a protective cap for pitchers, hoping to reduce the damage from line drives to head that have brought some terrifying and bloody scenes in the last few years.
The heavier and bigger new hat was introduced Tuesday and will be available for testing during spring training on a voluntary basis. Major leaguers and minor leaguers won't be required to wear it - comfort is likely to be a primary concern.
"Obviously, it'd be a change," two-time Cy Young winner Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers told the MLB Network. "I'm definitely not opposed to it."
"I think it'd take a lot of getting used to. You don't look very cool, I'll be honest."
The safety plates made by isoBLOX are sewn into the hat and custom fitted. They weigh an extra six to seven ounces - a baseball weighs about five ounces, by comparison - and offer protection to the forehead, temples and sides of the head. They'll make the hats about a half-inch thicker in the front and around an inch wider on the sides.
Several pitchers have been hit in the head by line drives in the recent seasons. Brandon McCarthy sustained a brain contusion and skull fracture after being struck in 2012 and Doug Fister was hit during the World Series that October.
Toronto's J.A. Happ and Tampa Bay's Alex Cobb were sidelined after being hit last year.
McCarthy tweeted he had already tried out the fortified cap and it was "headed in right direction but not game ready."
Said star closer Grant Balfour: "I am always appreciative of anything that will make the game safer. That being said, I may try it. Just not sure yet until I see it. Has to fit with a cap and be comfortable."
"We talked to a lot of guys who had been through this, and they provided a wealth of information to help us," said Bruce Foster, CEO of the 4Licensing Corporation, parent company of isoBLOX.