Braves' Whit Merrifield Jr. Rips 'Bulls--t' Fastballs After Getting Hit: 'Sick of It'

Atlanta Braves infielder Whit Merrifield Jr. vented his frustration after being hit with a fastball in the back of his head in Tuesday's 3-0 win by Colorado Rockies reliever Jeff Criswell.

Speaking to reporters after the game, Merrifield called it "bulls--t" that teams are bringing up pitchers from the minors whose command is erratic when the velocity across the league continues to go up:

"No repercussion on his part, and I mean, without being overly dramatic, that was my life on the line right there. 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."

Criswell's pitch was clocked at 95 mph on the television broadcast. The ball appeared to hit Merrifield's helmet, but he had a welt on the side of his neck just behind his ear.

Merrifield was seen mouthing something to Criswell on the field. Braves manager Brian Snitker said after the game that Merrifield passed his concussion test, but he would wait to see how the veteran utilityman feels before deciding if he would be back in the lineup on Wednesday.

The Braves have had multiple players miss games recently after being hit by pitches. Austin Riley suffered the most serious injury when his right hand was fractured by a 97 mph fastball from Los Angeles Angels starter Jack Kochanowicz on Aug. 18.

Travis d'Arnaud missed five games after being hit in the wrist by a fastball from Angels reliever José Cisnero on Aug. 18.

Merrifield also mentioned incidents involving players on other teams getting hit by a pitch. Los Angeles Dodgers star Mookie Betts missed 46 games after suffering a fractured hand on an errant pitch from Kansas City Royals reliever Dan Altavilla on June 16.

Devin Fink of FanGraphs wrote in April 2019 that hit-by-pitch totals were on the rise and showing no signs of slowing down.

There have been 1,767 players hit by a pitch so far this season. The average of .43 hit batsmen per game is right in line with the 2023 campaign (2,112 in 4,860 games).