Porter Hodge Closed Game Following Concern Over Racing Heart, May Undergo Further Tests

Porter Hodge stepped off the rubber in the 9th inning of Tuesday night’s game leading 6-3 with a runner on third and Max Muncy at the plate facing a 2-1 count. As boos rained down from the late-arriving LA crowd, the closer rubbed his upper abdomen or lower chest almost as though he was experiencing indigestion. Hodge took several deep breaths, paced near the mound, and even went to a knee as Craig Counsell, athletic trainer Nick Frangella, and teammates looked on.

The righty remained in the game following the delay and got Muncy to fly out on an incredible catch by Pete Crow-Armstrong to end it, but this looked a little scarier than taking a comebacker off the foot or something. It was apparently nothing new for Hodge, who has been checked for similar issues in the past and has been cleared to play.

“We noticed he was just going super fast, and then at some point, his heart was racing, and just to the point where he was concerned a little bit,” Craig Counsell told reporters after the game. “He said it had happened to him before, and it would go away, and nothing would be of it. So it took him a couple minutes, but it went away, and he said, ‘I’m good to go.'”

Counsell added that Hodge may undergo further testing just to be absolutely certain, but it doesn’t sound like the Cubs view this as a big problem moving forward. I’ve seen it suggested that he may have suffered a mild panic attack and it does bear some of those earmarks, but I’d prefer to avoid amateur diagnoses. Maybe Hodge just needs to lay off that extra cup of coffee, especially when he’s on the West Coast and coming into games much later than usual.

Whatever the case, I hope Hodge is well and that this truly is an innocuous little scare in an otherwise long and healthy career.