ATLANTA — Whit Merrifield is fed up with pitchers with control problems hitting batters with pitches.
The veteran infielder became the latest in a string of Atlanta Braves players struck by fastballs when he was hit in the back of the head by Colorado Rockies rookie Jeff Criswell on Tuesday. Merrifield said Major League Baseball needs to do something about the situation before anyone does. seriously injured – or worse.
“Where the game is right now, it’s just ridiculous,” said Merrifield, who was hit by a 90.5-mph pitch in the seventh inning of the Braves’ 3-0 win that left a welt behind his left ear was left on the top of his right ear. neck. “I hate where the game is right now.”
Merrifield, a player representative to the MLB competition committee, yelled at Criswell as he was being treated on the field and again as he walked away with a Braves trainer. Merrifield passed concussion protocol tests but was headed for a CT scan after the game to rule out internal injuries.
He was hit by a 1-0 fastball after Criswell missed deep inside with a slider on the first pitch.
Braves Travis d’Arnaud and Austin Riley were hit by up-and-in fastballs in back-to-back games Aug. 18-19 against the Los Angeles Angels. D’Arnaud missed five games with a forearm contusion and Riley landed on the injured list with a broken hand that is expected to sideline him for six to eight weeks.
Michael Harris II left an August 25 game after being hit in the hand by a fastball from Nationals rookie DJ Herz leading off the first inning and left the game a few innings later. X-rays and an MRI showed no fracture and he returned to the lineup two days later.
“We lost Riley, we almost lost Mike, we almost lost d’Arnaud in the span of two or three weeks,” Merrifield said. “The way pitchers throw now, no take into account is taken into account. The boys throw as hard as they can, they don’t care where the ball goes. And it’s just… they’re bulls…’
Merrifield wasn’t finished venting yet.
Not even close.
“You can’t hit someone (in retaliation) anymore,” he said. “There’s no fear that, ‘Oh, if I hit this guy, our guy’s going to get hit too.’ That is no longer in the game. Pitchers no longer have to hit and therefore do not have to stand in the penalty area. And teams are bringing up pitchers who don’t know where the ball is going. They’re throwing 100 miles an hour, so it’s, ‘Okay, we’ll see if he can get the guys out. Just stand in the middle and throw as hard as you can.” And they’re bulls… and it drives me crazy.”
He said something has to be done and he will do what he can to address the situation.
“I’m on the Rules Committee, and we got a call (Wednesday),” he said, “and it’s going to be a long conversation about what we need to do to get pitchers thinking about… I just got 95 straight out the head. I’m very lucky that this put me in a good place, and I need to get a CAT scan. I’m out of the game, he can keep pitching, I probably won’t be able to play tomorrow.”
The 25-year-old Criswell made his seventh MLB relief appearance. He threw 1 2/3 innings on Tuesday and was charged with one hit, one run and three walks with one strikeout. He threw just 23 strikes in 41 pitches.
“No repercussions on his part, and I mean, without being too dramatic, that was my life on the line,” Merrifield said. “So I’m tired of it, it happens way too much. I watched Taylor Ward get punched in the face last year and have to have reconstructive surgery. Justin Turner was punched in the face last year. It’s happening at an exponential rate. Guys get hit in the hand, Mookie Betts broke a bone in his hand this year. It’s just ridiculous and it needs to be fixed. Or, God forbid, something terrible is going to happen.
“If this hits me in any other place, I mean… it’s just sad. It’s just sad that some of the pitchers we put out there don’t know where the ball is going at the Major League level. It needs to be repaired. It just irritates me to no end.”
(Photo: Todd Kirkland/Getty Images)