Philadelphia Phillies prospect Matt Imhof loses right eye after bizarre accident

Philadelphia Phillies prospect Matt Imhof announced on Thursday that he has lost his right eye after a freak accident last week.

According to ESPN, Imhof was taking part in a routine stretching regimen after a game when a piece of equipment malfunctioned and hit him in the eye. He said that a big piece of metal hit him in the eye and head. The piece of metal fractured his nose and two orbital bones and caused Imhof to lose vision in his right eye.

The athlete posted a pic on Instagram showing that doctors have removed his right eye. That eye will be replaced with a prosthetic one.

As many of you know on Friday June 25th I had an accident. A large price of metal hit me in the head/eye resulting in a fractured nose, 2 fractured orbital bones, and most significantly, the loss of vision in my right eye. I was immediately taken to the ER and then transferred to Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, the #1 eye hospital in the world. That night, the doctors informed me that the damage to my eye was extreme and essentially that my eye had been crushed like a grape. The doctors told me they were going to do everything possible to reconstruct it but in all likelihood I would never regain sight in my right eye. The first surgery was somewhat a success but overall nothing had changed, so after discussions with my family and my doctors, it was decided that the best chance I had to live a normal life was to have my right eye removed and have a prosthetic one put in. This decision was not an easy one to make but to me it seemed like the right one so on Tuesday afternoon I went forward with the surgery. I'm currently still in Miami recovering from surgery but I'm doing well. This has been the hardest week of my life but I've had amazing support from my family and friends to help me get through it. For those who have been wishing me well, your support has not gone unnoticed and I appreciate everyone who has kept me in their thoughts and prayers. I had the best doctors in the world doing their best work on me and for that I am grateful as well. Although this injury has been tough it could have been much worse...I'm lucky to still have vision in my left eye...I'm lucky that i didn't have brain damage...and I'm lucky to be surrounded my the most loving and understanding people in the world. I just wanted to write this message to let everyone know that even though I suffered some bad luck, I'm not dead. I'm gonna be alright, I'm gonna persevere, and I'm gonna succeed. It takes more than this to bring me down. Again thanks to everyone for the support .

A photo posted by Matt Imhof (@matt_imhof48) on Jun 30, 2016 at 9:44am PDT

"Doctors informed me that the damage to my eye was extreme and essentially that my eye had been crushed like a grape,"Imhof wrote. "This decision was not an easy one to make, but to me it seemed like the right one, so on Tuesday afternoon, I went forward with the surgery. This has been the hardest week of my life, but I've had amazing support from my family and friends to help me get through it.”

He went on to say that he’s lucky that it’s not worse and he’s going to be alright and will persevere and succeed.

The Phillies drafted Imhof, who is a pitcher, in 2014. He is playing for Class A Clearwater and is 4-3 with a 3.91 ERA in 14 appearances this season, according to MLB.com. He is 13-10 and has a career ERA of 3.69  in three seasons in the minors.

It is unknown when Imhof can return to baseball as there are more procedures to come.