Cesar Tordesillas

Major League pitchers will begin spring training without the planned protective headgear to protect them from undue harm while on the mound.

According to MLB senior vice president Dan Halem, the league spent the offseason considering and testing padded linings for caps, hoping that it will be approved for use on a voluntary basis by pitchers.

However, Halem said that from the six proposals, no new cap design satisfies requirements that the league set for providing head protection against high-speed batted balls.

Halem also told ESPN.com that only two have submitted actual prototypes for MLB to test at a University of Massachusetts-Lowell laboratory.

"We're not going to approve a product unless our experts say it provides adequate protection," Halem said.

Among the padded linings for caps being considered by MLB features DuPont Kevlar, made by Unequal Technologies, and another that uses an advanced foam "gel-to-shell" product, made by EvoShield.

Representatives of both companies told ESPN.com that they have been making adjustments to what was originally submitted based on feedback from MLB.

"It may take multiple iterations," Halem said.

Despite the delay in design, Halem said the MLB could endorse a lined cup before Opening Day.

"We'll see if the two companies that are farthest along can complete testing, satisfy our criteria, and then produce fast enough," he said.

The MLB decided to beef up protection for pitchers when Oakland A's starter Brandon McCarthy underwent emergency brain surgery after he was hit by a line drive in the head off the bat of Angels' Erick Aybar

Fortunately, McCarthy has been cleared to pitch and signed a two-year, $15.5 million deal with Arizona.

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Protective Headgear for Major League Pitchers in the Works