<table> </table> CLEVELAND | Mitch Maier didn&#8217;t look much better Thursday afternoon as he sat on a couch in the Royals&#8217; clubhouse the day after suffering three broken bones around his right cheek when hit by a pitch.</p><p>The right side of Maier&#8217;s face was swollen into a distorted shape. His right eye required an effort to open. His nose continued to bleed steadily.</p><p>Yet he remained jocularly upbeat.</p><p>&#8220;I feel all right,&#8221; Maier insisted. &#8220;I don&#8217;t have any pain really. I&#8217;ve just got a bloody nose and, obviously, the swelling. Beyond that, I feel fine painwise.&#8221;</p><p>The medication, no doubt, gets some credit for that.</p><p>Plans call for Maier to be re-evaluated once he returns to Kansas City, but the initial examination is that none of the fractures displaced bones. So no plastic surgery is expected.</p><p>Further, Maier&#8217;s vision appears unimpaired.</p><p>&#8220;That was the big thing,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I can see out of my right eye when I open it. It&#8217;s just easier right now to keep it closed.&#8221;</p><p>The Royals placed Maier, 26, on the disabled list before Thursday&#8217;s series finale against the Indians at Progressive Field. It&#8217;s hard to imagine him playing again this season.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve got to get re-evaluated,&#8221; Maier said, &#8220;but the way they made it sound with the fractures is that nothing is out of place. When the swelling goes down, they think I can just let it heal and go from there.&#8221;</p><p>Maier suffered the injury in the fifth inning of Wednesday&#8217;s 8-5 loss to the Indians when he squared to bunt with no outs and runners on first and second. He fouled off a first attempt before a cut fastball by Cleveland starter Zach Jackson didn&#8217;t cut.</p><p>It stayed high and tight and struck Maier flush on the cheek.</p><p>&#8220;I just remember it riding up and in,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I tried to pull back and get out of the way. I saw the ball, and it was about a foot away, and I closed my eye and said, &#8216;Uh-oh.&#8217; Then it hit me.&#8221;</p><p>Maier went down but popped up almost immediately into a sitting position and applied a towel to his nose, which was bleeding heavily. His quick reaction led many to suspect the ball hit the ear flap of his helmet before striking his cheek.</p><p>&#8220;It hit me pretty good,&#8221; Maier said. &#8220;Had I not been squared to bunt, I think I could have protected myself a little better. Since I was squared, I was more exposed. It&#8217;s just one of those things that happened.&#8221;</p><p>Maier&#8217;s wife, Karrie, had returned earlier in the day to the couple&#8217;s home near Detroit after spending the two previous days in Cleveland.</p><p>She drove back to Cleveland after learning of the incident with plans to accompany her husband to Kansas City.</p><p>&#8220;She&#8217;s all right,&#8221; Maier said. &#8220;She&#8217;d be worse if I was in pain. I really haven&#8217;t been in a whole lot of pain. It&#8217;s been more a case that I can&#8217;t see out of my right eye, my nose has been constantly bleeding since it happened.</p><p>&#8220;Beyond that, I&#8217;ve been feeling all right.&#8221;