Neal Huntington hates to see any of his players injured, but catcher Francisco Cervelli is turning into a special case.

“Every single time he takes a ball off the mask, you hold your breath,” the Pittsburgh Pirates general manager said Sunday.

Added manager Clint Hurdle: “Unfortunately, in Francisco’s case, it’s been Francisco more than anybody else, maybe as much as the rest of (MLB’s catchers) bunched together.”

Imagine how Huntington and Hurdle felt Saturday night when the backswing of Joc Pederson’s bat caught Cervelli in the mask.

Cervelli, 33, stayed in the game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, but later left when he started to experience concussion-like symptoms. Sunday, he was placed on MLB’s seven-day concussion injury list for the sixth time in his career.

With the Pirates having only two catchers on their roster, Cervelli was reluctant to come out of the game immediately. It was only after the symptoms persisted that he left the game.

Huntington is advocating a revolutionary rule change that would allow a player with a possible concussion to leave the game, undergo an examination in the trainer’s room and re-enter the game if he is cleared medically. MLB is the only one of the four major leagues, including NFL, NHL and NBA, where a player may not come back in the game after he leaves it.

“Right now, (the examination) has to happen on the field with a trained professional,” Huntington said. “The symptoms sometimes are immediate and it’s an easy removal. Sometimes, they take time (to recognize), as they did (Saturday) with Cervelli on the field.

“The player has to feel pressure, as he’s standing there with 10,000 or 30,000 or 50,000 eyes on him, to make a decision, ‘Am I in or out of this game?’ He knows if he takes himself out and he’s the catcher, there’s only one other catcher and the game becomes a fiasco if that other catcher gets hurt.”

Pirates management has discussed the situation internally, but Huntington has not presented it to MLB officials.

“I’m sure now I’m going to get some phone calls, ‘Why didn’t you call us first?’ ” Huntington said.

“There is always room for abuse. We understand that. But our players’ safety should be first and foremost. It used to be, you’d get your bell rung and you’d stay in. We shouldn’t do that anymore. We should be understanding what that actually means.”

Despite the risks, Cervelli has been clear about his wishes to remain a catcher. Would the Pirates step in and decide for him?

“We’ve had the conversation a lot,” Huntington said. “The challenge is we have to also consider the player’s wishes and Francisco has been adamant that he wants to continue to catch. We are working to be respectful of that.

“At the same time, we are working to make sure we are doing what we need to do and what we can do to maybe help protect him from himself. There could come a point in time where we get to that. We’re not there yet.

“I think Francisco would be quite unhappy if we told him he was never going to catch again for us. I do get that we have a responsibility and an accountability. But the player has a say.”

Cervelli, who was hit in the upper chest with a foul tip Tuesday and missed the next three games, said Friday he wants to continue catching.

“You know my opinion. I’m a catcher,” he said. “That’s what I like, and I’m going to continue to be a catcher.”

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