Braves second baseman Whit Merrifield unloaded on the state of modern big-league pitching after getting hit in the head on Tuesday night. Merrifield took a 94.5 mph fastball from Rockies right-hander Jeff Criswell to the helmet in the seventh inning and departed, but he was still seething after the game. Its bullst. Its driving me nuts, I hate where the game is at right now with that Its just ridiculous The way pitchers are throwing now, theres no remorse or regard for throwing up and in. Guys are throwing [as] hard as they can and they dont care where the ball goes. Whit Merrifield of the Atlanta Braves is hit in the head by a pitch during the seventh inning against the Colorado Rockies at Truist Park on September 3, 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia. Getty Images Merrifield is the latest Braves player to be injured by a bean ball, joining Austin Riley, who is expected to mi s the rest of the regular season after suffering Cody Bradford Jersey a broken hand from a 97 mph fastball, and Michael Harris and Travis dArnaud, who both mi sed time with hit-by-pitches of their own. 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. Its happening at an exponential rate. Guys are getting hit in the hand. Mookie Betts God forbid, something terrible is going to happen. Explore More Merrifield lamented the death of pitchers hitting and the implementation of the universal designated hitter as why the hit-by-pitches continue to increase. You cant hit a guy back anymore, he said. Theres no fear that, Oh if I hit this guy, then our guy is going to get hit. Thats not the game anymore. Pitchers dont have to hit anymore, so they dont have to stand in the box. Atlanta Braves second baseman Whit Merrifield (15) on the ground after being hit in the head with a pitch against the Colorado Rockies in the seventh inning at Truist Park. Brett Davis-Imagn Images There have been 1,767 hit batters in MLB through Tuesdays play, which is already more than there were in all of 2017. There have been more than 2,000 HBP acro s baseball in each of the last three full seasons, which is more than any previous MLB season since at least 1909. Jose Leclerc Jersey