ATLANTA — Whit Merrifield has had plenty of control-challenged pitchers hitting batters with pitches.
The veteran infielder was the original in a cotton of Atlanta Braves gamers strike through fastballs when he was once plunked at the back of his head Tuesday through Colorado Rockies rookie Jeff Criswell, and Merrifield stated Primary League Baseball must do something positive about the condition earlier than any individual is critically injured — or worse.
“Where the game’s at right now, it’s just ridiculous,” stated Merrifield, who was once strike through a 94.5 mph sound within the 7th inning of the Braves’ 3-0 win, departure a welt simply at the back of his left ear on the supremacy of his neck. “I hate where the game’s at right now with that.”
Merrifield, a participant rep at the MLB Pageant Committee, shouted at Criswell month being attended to at the grassland, and once more as he was once strolling off with a Braves tutor. Merrifield handed concussion protocol assessments however was once on his technique to a CT scan next the sport to not include interior accidents.
He was once strike through a 1-0 fastball next Criswell ignored means within with a first-pitch slider.
Braves Travis d’Arnaud and Austin Riley had been strike through up-and-in fastballs in consecutive video games Aug. 18-19 towards the Los Angeles Angels. D’Arnaud ignored 5 video games with a forearm contusion and Riley landed at the injured listing with a damaged hand that’s anticipated to sideline him for 6 to 8 weeks.
Michael Harris II left an Aug. 25 sport next being strike within the hand through a fastball from Nationals rookie DJ Herz eminent off the primary inning and left the sport a couple of innings then. X-rays and an MRI confirmed incorrect break and he returned to the lineup two days then.
“We lost Riley, we almost lost Mike, we almost lost d’Arnaud in a span of two or three weeks,” Merrifield stated. “The way pitchers are throwing now, there’s no regard for throwing up and in. The guys are throwing as hard as they can, they don’t care where the ball goes. And it’s just … it’s bulls—-.”
Merrifield wasn’t executed venting.
Now not even similar.
“You can’t hit a guy anymore (in retaliation),” he stated. “There’s no fear that, ‘Oh, if I hit this guy, our guy’s going to get hit.’ That’s not in the game anymore. Pitchers don’t have to hit anymore, so they don’t have to stand in the box. And the teams are bringing pitchers up that don’t know where the hell the ball is going. They throw 100 miles an hour, so it’s, ‘Alright, we’ll see if he can get the guys out. Just set up down the middle and throw as hard as you can.’ And it’s bulls—, and it’s driving me nuts.”
He stated one thing must be executed, and he’s going to do what he can to backup get the condition addressed.
“I’m on the Rules Committee, and we’ve got a call (Wednesday),” he stated, “and it’s going to be a long conversation on what we’ve got to do to make pitchers think about … I just took 95 right off the head. I’m very lucky that it got me in a good spot, and I’ve got to go get a CAT scan. I’m out of the game, he gets to stay in to pitch, I’m probably not going to be able to play tomorrow.”
Criswell, 25, was once making his 7th MLB diversion look. He pitched 1 2/3 innings Tuesday and was once charged with one strike, one run and 3 walks with one strikeout. He threw simply 23 moves in 41 pitches.
“No repercussion on his part, and I mean, without being overly dramatic, that was my life on the line right there,” Merrifield stated. “So, I’m sick of it, it’s happening way too much. I watched Taylor Ward get hit in the face last year and have to get reconstructive surgery. Justin Turner got hit in the face last year. It’s happening at an exponential rate. Guys are getting hit in the hand, Mookie Betts broke a bone in his hand this year. It’s just ridiculous, and it has to be fixed. Or, God forbid, something terrible’s going to happen.
“If this hits me in a different spot, I mean … it’s just pathetic. It’s frankly pathetic, that some of the pitchers that we’re running out there don’t know where the ball’s going, at the major-league level. It’s got to be fixed. It just pisses me off to no end.”
(Picture: Todd Kirkland / Getty Photographs)
