Abrasions occur when the skin makes contact with another object and is scraped away. Abrasions are minor injuries and any bleeding is usually minimal. Baseball is not often a high-contact sport, but the game involves physical activity that can leads to abrasions. Scrapes, cuts and bruises are part of the game, and steps can be taken to keep abrasions to a minimum.
Sliding Protection
Wear the right equipment when running the bases. Sliding on hard infield dirt is the most common way to get abrasions while playing baseball. Wear sliding shorts under your long baseball pants to prevent abrasions to the thighs, hips and buttocks. Wear long sleeves under your uniform top to reduce arm scrapes. Wear running gloves to protect your hands and wrists. The lower body has more protection, so avoid sliding head-first when possible.
Arm Guards
Wear elbow guards and arm pads when batting. The equipment provides protection from abrasions when you are hit by a pitch. Wear batting gloves to protect the hands. Practice improving your reflexes and flexibility to quickly move out of the way of inside pitches.
Eye Goggles
Wear eye protection to eliminate the risk of eye abrasions. According to the American Academy of Ophthalmology, more eye injuries occur in baseball and basketball than any other sport. In baseball, corneal abrasions can be caused by a deflected baseball, being poked in the eye with a fielder's glove while being tagged, and dirt and dust particles blowing around the field.
Shin Guards
Wear shin guards while batting. Foul balls can travel straight down and hit your lower leg and the top of your foot. Foul balls making contact with the lower leg and foot are traveling at high speed and are a leading cause of baseball abrasions. The shin guard protects the lower leg and top of the foot.
Fielding Glove
Wear the right glove when playing defense. It is hard to catch or field the baseball when the glove does not fit right. A baseball can bounce or deflect off an improper glove and make contact with the body, causing an abrasion. Ensure that your glove is properly broken in before taking the field. Fielding the ball with a rigid glove can lead to an abrasion.
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