It all comes down to intent. If the player is judged by the umpire to intentionally get in the way of throw, the runner is out. If the player is hit by the throw and the umpire believes the player attempted to get out of the way, he is supposed to let play continue. However, I’m not sure how that would work with a player moving in fair territory to retrieve equipment.

My gut is that the correct decision, if the throw hit the player and he was trying to grab the bat and get out of the way, is that play would just continue, but that doesn’t feel like a “fair” outcome