Atlanta Braves second baseman Whit Merrifield handed the concussion protocol and must be accessible to play on Wednesday, regardless of taking a 94-mph fastball to the helmet in the course of the group’s 3-0 win in opposition to the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday.
Nevertheless, the three-time All-Star was fuming within the aftermath of the incident.
Merrifield exited Tuesday’s contest within the seventh inning after being hit by Rockies rookie Jeff Criswell’s heater. In keeping with a report by David O’Brien of The Athletic, the 35-year-old “wobbled on one knee, yelling angrily towards Criswell whereas he was down, earlier than lastly strolling slowly to the dugout.”
O’Brien wrote that the state of affairs left a welt “simply behind his left ear on the prime of his neck.”
“The place the sport’s at proper now, it’s simply ridiculous,” Merrifield mentioned. “I hate the place the sport’s at proper now with that.”
The 2010 ninth-round decide’s outburst continued, approaching the heels of a bunch of teammates getting hit by pitches in latest weeks.
Catcher Travis d’Arnaud and third baseman Austin Riley have been plunked by fastballs in back-to-back contests on Aug. 18 and 19 vs. the Los Angeles Angels. The backstop missed 5 video games with a forearm contusion, and the latter was placed on the injured record with a damaged hand from which he is nonetheless recovering.
Star centerfielder Michael Harris exited Atlanta’s Aug. 25 recreation after being hit within the hand however was in a position to return to motion two days later.
“We misplaced Riley, we nearly misplaced Mike, we nearly misplaced d’Arnaud in a span of two or three weeks,” Merrifield, who’s a participant rep on the league’s Competitors Committee, mentioned per the report. “The best way pitchers are throwing now, there’s no regard for throwing up and in. The blokes are throwing as arduous as they’ll, they don’t care the place the ball goes. And it’s simply… it is bulls–t.”
Merrifield, who started the yr with the Philadelphia Phillies however was launched in July and signed by the Braves 10 days later, was removed from finished along with his venting. He pointed to quite a few different incidents when hitters have been significantly harm after being beaned by an up-and-in heater.
“No repercussion on [Criswell’s] half, and I imply, with out being overly dramatic, that was my life on the road proper there,” Merrifield mentioned. “So, I’m sick of it, it’s occurring means an excessive amount of. I watched Taylor Ward get hit within the face final yr and should get reconstructive surgical procedure. Justin Turner obtained hit within the face final yr. It’s occurring at an exponential fee. Guys are getting hit within the hand, Mookie Betts broke a bone in his hand this yr. It’s simply ridiculous, and it needs to be mounted. Or, God forbid, one thing horrible’s going to occur.”
