MLB players confront safety issues after Braves star Ronald Acuna Jr. is swarmed by out-of-control fans in Denver and a gun is discharged at a White Sox game in Chicago

Major League Baseball is being forced to deal with security concerns after a pair of incidents this week in Denver and Chicago, the latter involving a gun fired at Guaranteed Rate Field.

Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Kevin Kiermaier has experienced similar scenarios both before and after witnessing Atlanta Braves star Ronald Acuña nearly tackled by some fans at Coors Field on Monday.

“Anytime I hear the fans freaking out out of nowhere, I always turn around,” said Kiermaier. “One of these days I feel like someone is just running at me.”

While the MLB is on track for a marked increase in attendance this year, the two high-profile incidents raised questions about the safety of players and fans inside and outside major league ballparks.

“It’s always a little scary when you have situations like we had in Chicago, especially when you look at the video and I’m sitting there in left field playing a baseball game and all that activity is happening,” said Oakland’s Tony Kemp. ‘That’s a little scary. That bullet could have hit me, and you know, I have a family and I have people who care about me and I take care of them.’

The White Sox shooting resulted from an accidental discharge from a gun in the stadium

The Major League Baseball Players Association said the league takes player safety “very seriously” and reviews club and stadium protocols during each season “to reduce the possibility of similar future incidents.”

Chicago Cubs outfielder Ian Happ, a member of the eight-player league’s executive subcommittee, called the situation with Acuña “a scary moment.” But he cautioned against connecting what happened to Acuña with the ballpark shooting.

“I think they are very different,” he said. “I think each should probably be judged on its own.”

Acuña was approached by two fans in the middle of the seventh inning in Atlanta’s 14-4 victory over Colorado.

One fan put his arms around Acuña in right field before security personnel quickly grabbed the man. A second fan then sprinted towards the group and knocked Acuña down, and that fan was tackled when a member of the security staff chased after him.

“I was a little scared at first,” Acuña said through an interpreter. “I think the fans were there asking for pictures. I really couldn’t say anything because at that point security was already there and we were already a bit confused, but security was able to get there and everything is fine.”

Seattle Mariners relief pitcher Tayler Saucedo returns an autographed cap to a fan

Denver police say the two fans are charged with trespassing and disturbing the peace.

“Fortunately, they weren’t trying to hurt Acuña in that situation,” said Tampa Bay Rays second baseman Brandon Lowe. “But again, if this happens again, you can’t be sure that anyone will have any ill-will towards that person. It’s definitely concerning and hopefully steps will be taken to ensure this doesn’t happen again.

Fans running on the field are nothing new to baseball. Players are instructed during spring training to do everything they can to get out of the way when this happens.

“They tell you there could be an urge to tackle them or something like that,” said Phillies outfielder Jake Cave. They say please don’t do that. You never know what someone is carrying. Something sharp. You could get hurt.’

Field intruders are generally turned over to law enforcement before being evicted from the ballpark. Clubs can individually penalize field intruders by banning them from their ballparks.

The commissioner’s office reviews all incidents and may impose further penalties, up to and including a lifetime ban from all MLB baseball fields and facilities.

Neither a fan nor Mariners right fielder Dominic Canzone could catch this Seth Brown home run

But it was unusual to see two fans make contact with a player and knock him down.

“I’m glad everything was okay, but that’s not okay,” Kiermaier said. “It seems that security in most places always takes a little longer than necessary, or that security guards aren’t suited to chasing certain people. I’ve seen it enough over the years.

“I’ve seen seniors who are in security and other people don’t seem physically suited for that.”

The Acuña incident occurred on the same day Chicago’s interim superintendent said a shooting that injured two women during Friday night’s Athletics-White Sox game most likely involved a gun that went off inside the Guaranteed Rate Field.

Both injured women, aged 42 and 26, were expected to recover from the shooting that occurred during the fourth inning. Police said the 42-year-old suffered a gunshot wound to the leg and the 26-year-old had an abrasion to her abdomen. According to a police statement, the 26-year-old refused medical attention.

A spokesman for the Chicago Police Department said Tuesday that the investigation remains active.

A fan shouts at Ronald Acuna Jr. after running onto the field and being apprehended by security

If the gun went off at the White Sox home, the focus turns to how it was brought into the facility. MLB has had a mandatory metal detection screening since opening day in 2015.

“I think every time you hear this, you’re going to fear not only for your safety, but for your family,” said Texas Rangers outfielder Travis Jankowski. “At almost every home game we play, and many road games too, we have loved ones sitting in the seats. So it’s one of those things that you hope MLB trusts MLB security to take care of.”

It also raises questions about the decision to keep playing the game. Fred Waller, interim superintendent of the Chicago Police Department, said police initially requested that the game be stopped after the shooting was discovered. The White Sox said on Saturday they were initially unaware that a woman injured in the game had been shot, and that police would have stopped play if officers believed it was unsafe to continue.

“I mean, the ballpark has to be an area of ​​safety and we have to feel the utmost safety out there,” Kemp said. “So yeah, definitely a bit of a scary week.”