Major League Baseball hopeful Delino DeShields Jr takes 90 mph fastball to the face

Delino DeShields Jr takes 90 mph fastball to the face

Major League Baseball prospect Delino DeShields Jr ended up in hospital with half his face grotesquely swollen after taking a 90 mph fastball to the face by a pitch on Friday night.

The 21-year-old centre fielder for the Houston Astros was struck on the right side of his face in the seventh inning of the Corpus Christi Hook's game in Frisco, Texas. However, despite the seemingly severity of the injury he walked off the field on his own feet before immediately being taken to hospital.

De Shields Jr said: "I didn't feel anything [when he took the fastball]. I think the shock from getting hit in the face caused my body to not really feel anything but you bet I felt it the next day haha."

The aftermath of the hit was shared on social media with a comment of his friend Tanner Case that read: "Shoutout to my brother for taking a 90mph fastball on the face like a champ. Looking good Delilah."

Despite the nasty injury, the starlet kept the high spirits up and posted an image on Twitter, showing a swollen face, a black eye and a thumb up, writing: "To anyone that is concerned as you can see I'm doing fantastic! Blessed to see another day! Always smiling *happy face* lol."

He has a broken cheekbone and is now expected to be out of the baseball pitch for few weeks.

He Tweeted: "I'll be returning soon #nofear"

On his recovery, he said: "The swelling is taking a while to go down but I'm not going to look like this forever, I hope."