Exhale.

Sunday afternoon’s eventual Yankees win was marred midway through by a consequence so horrific most of us had never conceived of it before.

With runners on first and second and one out in the fifth, the Yankees clinging to a 4-3 lead, resurgent slugger Giancarlo Stanton took a full hack, splintering his bat and sending a looper into left field. The single loaded the bases, but the bat detritus (the full barrel) struck home plate umpire Nick Mahrley.

Stanton, already a hard swinger with an average bat speed of 80.9 MPH (MLB’s fastest), somehow managed to reach a remarkable 85.1 MPH on this particular swing. Not only did Mahrley’s head/neck area appear to get the brunt of one of the game’s most powerful swings, but he was struck by a particularly potent version.

The game underwent a lengthy delay while Mahrley was immobilized and taken off the field for observation, and it seemed fair to fear the worst, far beyond the confines of the game. Later that evening, however, after the game resumed and finished with just three umpires, Mahrley was diagnosed with a concussion, and prescribed a short break.

Umpire Nick Mahrley receives positive update after being struck by broken bat of Yankees star Giancarlo Stanton

Umpiring is physically demanding, especially in the hot summer sun. This certainly isn’t good news for Mahrley, who will need to be very careful returning so that he doesn’t exacerbate the after-effects. Still, anyone watching the game live Sunday afternoon feared the worst, and nothing about Mahrley’s evacuation from the field made any of those dark feelings disappear.

2023 represented Mahrley’s first season as a full-time umpire, after previously serving as a call-up when needed. It seems likely another umpire will get a similar promotion now while Mahrley recovers, joining his experienced crew led by crew chief Marvin Hudson and the veteran Hunter Wendelstedt.

The action in Sunday’s game moved on quickly, the Yankees’ lead ballooning to seven runs, powered by an historic trio of late-game home runs from Juan Soto, Aaron Judge and Stanton himself. Those who watched couldn’t easily forget the mid-game trauma, though, and will be glad to know things weren’t quite as bad as they looked.