GOODYEAR, Ariz. Dejan Lovren Jersey . -- Cincinnati Reds closer Aroldis Chapman underwent a 2 1/2-hour operation Thursday to repair a broken bone above his left eye but has no other serious injuries after being hit in the face by a line drive in a spring training game. Team medical director Dr. Timothy Kremchek said Chapman could begin throwing off a mound in six to eight weeks, a timetable that could get him back in games in late May. The left-hander with a fastball that has reached 105 mph could start exercising and throwing on flat ground in a couple of weeks, Kremchek said. The doctor called Chapman "a very lucky guy." The surgery was performed by cranial facial plastic surgeon Dr. Ed Joganic. Kremchek said earlier that a metal plate would be inserted in the bone above Chapmans left eyebrows and would remain there permanently. Chapman has a very mild concussion but no other brain injury and no injury to his eye, Kremchek said. "Hes feeling better and he has some pain management. Were optimistic that he is going to be on the mend," Reds manager Bryan Price said after meeting with players Thursday morning at the teams spring training facility. "Obviously, well stay in touch. We will make sure we follow the process as we continue to get familiar with the injury itself. We will let him know how much support he has and that we care about him. Hopefully, we will see him here very soon." Cincinnati catcher Brayan Pena, a fellow Cuban and Chapmans close friend, was one of several Reds players who visited the injured pitcher Wednesday night and spoke to him on the phone Thursday morning. "He was talking to me and we joked a lot," Pena said. "He just wanted to make sure for me to tell everybody that he appreciate so much the fans prayers, especially our teammates, our coaching staff, everybody around, how much support and how much love he received and got from all of us." Pena said Chapman was very happy when they spoke Thursday, "talking and joking. He was talking a lot about some Cuban jokes and thats good because that means his memory is still working pretty good." The frightening incident, widely available on video via the Internet, occurred in the sixth inning of Wednesday nights game at Kansas Citys spring training facility in Surprise, where the Royals Salvador Perez lined Chapmans 99 mph fastball into the pitchers face. Chapman was knocked backward to the ground, then rolled on his face, kicking in pain. Pena rushed to the mound. "Honestly, when I saw it I wanted to cry," Pena said. "That was my first feeling because it was very scary. It was very scary because I saw the line drive going straight for his face, and then I saw him bleeding and kicking and moving around the way he was." Pena said Chapman "wasnt even talking. He was just like moaning and making sounds and then when I got there I panicked because I didnt know what else to do. Then the medical staff guys got there, and those guys were great." Chapman was taken off the field on a stretcher as the crowd fell into an eerie silence and the game was called. The pitcher was taken to a nearby hospital, then transferred to Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center in Phoenix. Kremchek said he expected Chapman to remain hospitalized for a couple of days and perhaps get released on Saturday. The ball hit Chapman in one of the most protected areas of the skull, the doctor said. "If you get hit in the side of the head, that could be disastrous," Kremchek said. "Where Aroldis got hit, you dont want to say he got hit in a good spot because hes undergoing surgery, but it could have been a lot worse, a lot more injuries, a lot more permanent. Hes very lucky." The 26-year-old Chapman has a blazing fastball that regularly hits 100 mph. The two-time All-Star defected from Cuba in 2009 and made the Reds in his first season of 2010. He had 38 saves each of the past two seasons, with 122 strikeouts in 71 2-3 innings in 2012 and 112 strikeouts in 63 2-3 innings in 2013. Price, a former pitcher, said pitchers are in a dangerous situation, "regardless of how hard you throw." "Its hard to defend yourself from 53, 54 feet," the manager said. "And everyone finishes their pitches differently. Everyone is not in a perfect fielding position and even if you are there is no guarantee that you can protect yourself when a balls hit that hard." Major League Baseball approved a protective cap for pitchers this winter following several terrifying scenes similar to this one in the last few years. The hats were available for testing during spring training on a voluntary basis but most pitchers have rejected them. Besides, the hats would offer no protection to the face, where Chapman was hit. Chapman particularly wanted to thank the Royals organization for its support and offer assurance to Perez that it is just something that happens in baseball and was not his fault. Pena said he also felt some responsibility. "I kind of blame myself a little bit because I could have called slider or I should have called changeup," Pena said. "Thats your thought process. Everything goes through your mind and youre looking for answers. ... You kind of put yourself in that guilt feeling." But Chapman, Pena said, told him "You know, its not your fault. I should have thrown slower. Im the one feeling very bad about it and hes the one thats cheering me up. Hes the one in the hospital." Virgil van Dijk Liverpool Jersey . Pistorius denied the allegation that he said to the close friend of the girlfriend he killed: "How can you sleep at night?" The accusation by Kim Myers provided a bizarre twist during the trial of the world-famous double-amputee Olympian, who is facing 25 years to life in prison if convicted of premeditated murder for shooting dead Steenkamp, a 29-year-old model, at his home last year. Andrew Robertson Jersey . Zimmermann became the National Leagues first 16-game winner, pitching seven solid innings to lead the Washington Nationals past the Philadelphia Phillies 3-2 Wednesday night. http://www.liverpoolgear.us/Authentic-Sadio-Mane-Liverpool-Jersey/ . The 22-year-old Kreider was injured Friday night in New Yorks win at Columbus, but played in the next two games -- including Monday nights win over Phoenix. But the left winger, who has 17 goals and 37 points this season, was limited to about 10 minutes of ice time in each of the previous games.ASHBURN, Va. - During a six-hour interview at the Washington Redskins owners house, Scot McCloughan saw Dan Snyders eyes light up like a little kid, which the prospective new general manager found as cool as crud. McCloughan also laid out a plan that essentially told Snyder it was time for a change.The subject of Snyders renowned impatience had been broached by team President Bruce Allen, who was also present. McCloughan spoke of a different approach, once that runs counter to the quick-fix mode that has come to embody the franchise.I laid my vision out. Its the vision I know; its the vision Ive been around for 20 years, McCloughan said. Again, theres no right or wrong way, but they understand where Im coming from. They understand how important the draft is to me.The Redskins new GM, who will have full authority over the roster, met with reporters Friday in what has become a seemingly annual rite of passage — the big off-season news conference that is supposed to signal a turnaround. This one, which came exactly one year to the day after coach Jay Grudens introductory turn at the podium, didnt come with a sense that all the wrongs will suddenly be rights.Its time for a team that has finished last in the NFC East in six of the last seven years to start doing things differently.The drafts the lifeline of your organization, said McCloughan, who honed his philosophy in the 1990s as a scout with the Green Bay Packers and over the last decade in the front office of the San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks.You start dabbling in free agency sometimes, you get older guys, you get the medical history, McCloughan said. The thing I liked about what we did in San Fran, what we did in Seattle: We drafted our own, moulded our own, and re-signed the ones we wanted to re-sign. You train them how you want to train them.In Washington, were going to draft these guys — were going to draft them and mould them as Redskins. Were not going to have to go out to other organizations and bring in 32-, 33-year olds that have different plans.Sounds like no more Albert Haynesworths or Donovan McNabbs or Jason Hatchers on the free agency plate at Redskins Park. Snyder, who sat in the second row of the auditorium taking it all in, exited quickly after the news conference and did not take questions, but he chuckled at McCloughaans little kid and cool as crud references, which were meant to reflect the owners passion for winning. Sadio Mane Liverpool Jersey. .Allen is giving up the role of GM he has held for five years and will remain team president. Asked who will have control over the makeup of the team, McCloughan, with arms folded, responded: I have final say.Before being offered the job, McCloughan had some tough questions of his own to answer. While he had been a success with the 49ers (2005-09, including the last two as GM) and the Seahawks (2010-13), he left both jobs because of personal reasons.He later disclosed to ESPN The Magazine that he had drinking and family problems, and he spent the 2014 season running his own private scouting service that evaluated college players for NFL clients, one of which was the Redskins.It was very tough, McCloughan said. But I learned a lot from it, professionally and personally, and it made me a better father. Its going to make me a better personnel guy because I went through it. ... Honestly, Im kind of glad I went through it to realize who I am and what I have to be.Allen said he had a forthright conversation with McCloughan.He would not be taking this job if he thought that was going to be a concern, Allen said.Allen and McCloughan go back a ways. Allen said he recommended McCloughan for the 49ers GM job, and he said the Redskins were one of the first teams to sign up for McCloughans scouting service last year. By the end of the season, Allen had essentially targeted McCloughan.As for Robert Griffin III, who has been benched twice in two years, McCloughan said its too early to give up on the 2012 Offensive Rookie of the Year. McCloughan said it took Brett Favre two years to figure out the Packers West Coast offence, which is similar to the one introduced by Gruden last year.He also said Gruden would be in charge of hiring the coaching stuff, which as of now needs a defensive co-ordinator to replace Jim Haslett.If youre not winning games, theres turmoil everywhere, McCloughan said. Thats just common knowledge. ... This is my fourth organization. Ive been around a couple of really good ones, but this place is right. 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