Yankees’ Austin Romine hit in head, pulled from game

Yankees catcher Austin Romine was pulled from Saturday’s game against the Blue Jays.

Updated 5:54 p.m.

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Manaager Aaron Boone said “Ro’s good” when asked how Romine was feeling.

“Went through the testing and stuff on the field and deemed his was OK,” Boone said, “and we took him down in the tunnel in between innings, felt like he was OK, but just seeing the video and seeing him stumble like that, we just wanted to be careful.”

Boone added, “We think he’s OK.”

Kyle Higashioka will start Sunday for the Yankees. They’re off Monday.

NEW YORK — The Yankees pulled catcher Austin Romine from the middle of a game against the Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium on Saturday.

In the fifth inning, Romine took a foul ball off his face mask. He was stunned immediately after and the plate umpire had to catch him as he backpedaled to keep him upright.

Romine stayed in the game for two more outs but was pulled for a pinch hitter in the inning’s bottom half. Backup Kyle Higashioka took over for him.

The Yankees said Romine was pulled for further evaluation by the team’s training staff. The team’s trainer checked him out behind the plate Romine wasn’t taken out of the game.

The Yankees’ catching situation is already in bad shape. Losing Romine would be a big blow.

Gary Sanchez has been out for weeks with a right groin strain. He’s also had a terrible season at the plate, hitting just .188 with 14 home runs.

Higashioka is the team’s third catcher. It’s unclear who would be added to the roster to catch if Romine needed to go on the concussion disabled list.

Ronald Torreyes is likely the Yankees’ emergency catcher, with Neil Walker also a possibility.

Richard Urena fouled a 97.9 mph heater from Luis Severino right into Austin Romine’s mask. Catcher shaken up, but he’s staying in.
— Shi Davidi (@ShiDavidi) August 18, 2018

Kudos to home plate umpire David Rackley
for his quick thinking
after Austin Romine got brutelly hit in the facemask by a foul tip ball. Romine looked like he was either passed out or passing out and Mr. Rackley held him up until the trainer got to him. Romine stayed in the game!
— Jay Helms (@jdhelms07) August 18, 2018

Let’s enforce a concussion protocol in MLB. If Austin Romine were a QB or WR he’d be in the tent right now. Looks like that ball briefly KO’d him, didn’t it? Thoughts?@YESNetwork @MLBNetwork #YANKSonYES #concussion
— Frank Luby (@FrankLuby) August 18, 2018

Brendan Kuty may be reached at bkuty@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @BrendanKutyNJ. Find NJ.com Yankees on Facebook.