Umpire Nate Tomlinson avoids serious injury after getting struck in face by Mike Trout's broken bat

Tomlinson has a cut on his face, but Dave Roberts said it was the 'best-case scenario'

Home plate umpire Nate Tomlinson avoided serious injury after being struck in the face by Mike Trout's broken bat in the ninth inning of Monday's Los Angeles Angels vs. Los Angeles Dodgers game (LAD 2, LAA 0), according to USA Today. Tomlinson was taken to the hospital and has a cut above his eye and nose.

Here's a photo of the bat striking Tomlinson. The broken handle managed to get through the bars of his facemask:

Home plate umpire Nate Tomlinson is hit with a broken bat from Angels Mike Trout in the face and would leave the game in the 9th against the Dodgers during a MLB baseball game at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. @dodgers #dodgers @angels #angels @mlb #mlb #baseball @billplunkettocr pic.twitter.com/869n1sdIA3

— Keith Birmingham (@photowkb) June 15, 2022

The still image is deceiving and makes it look like the bat jammed directly into Tomlinson's face. The broken bat was in fact spinning, and it cut across Tomlinson's face. Trout was initially hesitant to run to first base after realizing what happened. Here's the video:

"In the mask, the broken part of the bat, that was really scary," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told The Athletic after the game. "I heard that it hit his nose, Nate. And so that's, I guess, the best-case scenario. A very scary moment."   

Tomlinson was bloodied and second base umpire Laz Diaz took over behind the plate the rest of the game. The 31-year-old Tomlinson made his MLB debut in 2020 and he came into this season with 20 career big-league games to his credit.