Nationals’ Alcides Escobar got hit square in the beans on a pick-off throw

Two balls, one strike.

Losing by five runs to the Pittsburgh Pirates is bad enough, but Thursday was an especially bad night for Alcides Escobar. The infielder was taking a lead off first base in the top of the fourth, when J.T. Brubaker tried to pick him off. That’s when things went wrong.

It’s difficult to capture the moment that ball met crotch, even watching this is super slow motion. That’s a terrifying testament to just how fast Brubaker’s throw was. It appears we have a perfect bean-bashing storm in which the pitcher threw slightly wide to Escobar’s right, and he stepped perfectly so the ball collided with his right testicular area, before understandably collapsing in a heap.

We’re going to see plenty more examples of players getting hit square in the beans this season, but this is one of the earliest, and most soul-crushing examples. The Nationals went on to lose 9-5, and Escobar was 1-for-4, with no runs scored, and one groin flattened.