Matt Shoemaker reflects on head injury: 'I should have caught the ball'

You've got to hand it to Matt Shoemaker ... he's tough as nails.

During the moments following his skull fracture on Sept. 4 via Kyle Seager's 105 MPH line drive, Shoemaker's first thought was to get back up and keep pitching.

"It seems like it happened a long time ago at this point. When I got hit, I was down on all fours. I was dizzy and light-headed, but I knew what had happened and I was trying to gather myself, too. I was actually thinking, 'Give me a second, I can get up and still pitch.' Our trainers all laughed about that later.'

Shoemaker also said during his first-person piece for MLBPlayers.com that he's fully recovered and ahead of schedule in his rehab.

The Angels will lean heavily on Shoemaker this season in hopes the fifth-year pro can regain his 2014 form, in which, he went 16-4 with a 3.04 ERA and finished second in the American League Rookie of the Year voting.

'Now I’m back where I was before the surgery. I feel good and I believe I can pick up just where I left off last August. I need to keep working hard and improve. Just like every other baseball season.'