After Former Toronto Blue Jay Whit Merrifield was struck with a fastball to the back of the head during the Atlanta Braves/Colorado Rockies game last night, he spoke about how frustrated he is with pitchers and hates the state baseball is in right now.
Merrifield was very expletive in his remarks and is has sparked some outrage on social media.
"Where the game's at right now, it's just ridiculous," Merrifield said post-game. "We lost [Austin] Riley, we almost lost [Michael Harris II], we almost lost [Travis] D'Arnaud in the span of two or three weeks. The way pitchers are throwing now, there's no remorse or regard for throwing up and in.
"The guys are throwing as hard as they can, they don't care where the ball goes. It's just [expletive].M
He states that pitchers throw harder then ever before and that they do not care about the safety of the batters they face or the repercussions that come with hitting players. That flamethrower arms have no fear because they no longer have to hit in games, they can just pitch and be as dangerous as they want.
You can't hit a guy back anymore. There's no fear that 'Oh if I hit this guy, our guy is gonna 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 teams are bringing pitchers up that don't know where the ball is going.
"It's driving me nuts. I hate where the game is at right now."
"Without being overly dramatic, that was my life on the line right there," Merrifield said. "I'm sick of it, it's happening way too much ... It's just ridiculous, it has to be fixed. Or, God forbid, something terrible's going to happen."
In all honesty, Merrifield has a good point in this matter, and as a member of the MLB Competition Committee, he told reporters that he'll be having a meeting next week in order to increase accountability and make rule changes to increase player safety.
What do you think of this take by Whit Merrifield?