Rockies rookie reliever Jeff Criswell cut loose with a 94.5 mph fastball in the seventh inning Tuesday night.
The pitch got away from the right-hander and hit Braves second baseman Whit Merrifield in the back of the head. After the Braves’ 3-0 victory, Merrifield let loose a torrent of criticism about the “pathetic” state of major league pitching.
“It’s bulls—; it’s driving me nuts,” Merrifield told reporters in Atlanta. “I hate where the game is at right now with that.”
Merrifield added that “something terrible is going to happen” if baseball doesn’t address the issue of pitchers throwing high, wild and inside.
Criswell’s rising fastball sailed behind Merrifield’s head and clipped the second baseman in the batting helmet just behind his left ear. As Merrifield got up from the ground and wobbled on one knee, he shouted angrily at Criswell.
Merrifield became the fourth Braves player to be hit — and injured — by wildly thrown fastballs within the past month.
Star third baseman Austin Riley will likely miss the rest of the regular season after suffering a broken hand when he was hit by a 97 mph pitch last month. Center fielder Michael Harris II and veteran catcher Travis d’Arnaud also missed time last month after being hit.
“It’s just ridiculous,” Merrifield told reporters. “Where the game is at right now, it’s just ridiculous. … The way pitchers are throwing now, there’s no remorse or regard for throwing up and in. Guys are throwing hard as they can and they don’t care where the ball goes.”
Merrifield criticized teams for calling up pitchers who, he said, have no business being on a big-league mound.
“Teams are bringing pitchers up that don’t know where the hell the ball is going,” he said. “They throw 100 miles an hour, so they’re like, ‘All right, we’ll see if he can get the guys out. Just set up down the middle and throw it as hard as you can.’ And it’s bulls—.”
Merrifield was also upset that there are no consequences for pitchers who plunk batters.
“It’s bulls—. You can’t hit a guy anymore back,” he said. “There’s no fear of, ‘Oh, if I hit this guy, then our guy is going to get hit.’ That’s not the game anymore. Pitchers don’t have to hit anymore, so they don’t have to stand in the box.”
Merrifield, a player representative on Major League Baseball’s competition committee, said he planned to discuss the issue with other committee members during a meeting on Wednesday.
Merrifield said baseball is playing a dangerous game.
“I watched Taylor Ward get hit in the face last year and have to get reconstructive surgery,” Merrifield said. “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 is going to happen. If this hits me in a different spot — it’s just pathetic. It’s frankly pathetic some of the pitchers we’re running out there that don’t know where the ball is going at the major league level. And it’s got to be fixed.”
Braves manager Brian Snitker said Merrifield passed the concussion protocol and might be able to play in Wednesday night’s game against the Rockies. But Merrifield was angry that he had to leave Tuesday’s game while Criswell continued pitching.
“I’m out of the game, but he gets to stay in and pitch,” Merrifield said. “I’m probably not going to be able to play (Wednesday), but (there are no) repercussions on his part. I mean, without being over dramatic, that was my life on the line right there. So I’m sick of it. It’s happening way too much out there.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report
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