When Philadelphia Phillies left fielder Rhys Hoskins was forced to leave last Monday night’s game against the Dodgers after being struck in the mouth by his own foul ball, it understandably received a lot of attention, not to mention repeated replays that left squeamish fans feeling… squeamish. An X-ray of Hoskins mouth the following day revealed that the 25-year-old Sacramento, California native and Phillies 2014 fifth-round draft pick (out of Cal State Sacramento) had suffered a fractured his jaw, which immediately landed him on the 10-day disabled list.

Hoskins suffered a broken jaw when he fouled a ball off his mouth on May 28. He remains on the Phillies 10-day disabled list. (Video capture courtesy of SportsNet LA)

But when a frighteningly similar incident occurred to 25-year-old Oklahoma City Dodgers utility infield prospect Jake Peter on Saturday evening during a game between the Dodgers Triple-A affiliate and the Kansas City Royals Triple-A affiliate Storm Chasers at OKC’s Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark, it understandably received little attention – understandably because it was: A) A minor league game; and B) It was not seen my millions of viewers on national television … although neither mattered much to the popular Mason City, Iowa native, whom the Dodgers had acquired in a three-way trade with the Chicago White Sox and (ironically) the Kansas City Royals in the deal that brought left-handed reliever Scott Alexander to the LA Dodgers in exchange for left-handed reliever Luis Avilan (to the White Sox), and right-handed pitching prospect Trevor Oaks and utility infield prospect Erick Mejia (to the Royals).

If the name Jake Peter sounds familiar to you, it well should. The 6′-1″ / 185-pound left-handed hitting / right-handed throwing infielder and White Sox 2014 seventh-round draft pick (out of Creighton University) received an invitation to Dodgers major league camp this past spring and immediately caught everyone’s attention when he slugged three home runs in three consecutive games. And for good measure, he also had a triple and a double in the 26 spring training games in which he appeared with the big league club. Unfortunately, Peter ended up going 10-for-43 (.233) at the plate and had a less-than-attractive .261 on-base percentage. As such, he began the 2018 season with the Triple-A Oklahoma City Dodgers.

Peter was the early buzz during spring training, when he hit a home run in three consecutive games. Unfortunately, he would not hit another with the big league club and began the 2018 season at Triple-A Oklahoma City. (Photo credit – Joe Camporeale)

Although the severity of Peter’s injury is unknown, he is currently listed as being on OKC’s 7-day disabled list.