An extract of this tale appeared in Mark Bowman’s Braves Beat newsletter. Go here to view the newsletter in its entirety. And sign up to receive it in your inbox on a regular basis.
Atlanta Position players and pitchers from all around the league texted Whit Merrifield to express gratitude for his remarks regarding the lack of consequences pitchers face when hitting rival hitters, particularly above the shoulders.
After reliever Jeff Criswell’s 94.5 mph fastball struck Merrifield behind the left ear during Tuesday night’s game against the Rockies, Merrifield lost his cool. His CT scan came back clean, and he passed concussion tests. However, the seasoned infielder is among many who are worried that this high-velocity era may produce a very different outcome.
Merrifield stated, “Teams are bringing up pitchers who don’t know where the [heck] the ball is going.” “At 100 miles per hour, they hurl.” “Let’s see if they can get the guys out,” they say. Simply position yourself in the center and launch it as hard as you can. It’s [crap], and I can’t get over it. I detest the current state of the game with that.
There was zero intention for Criswell’s pitch to strike Merrifield. When Jack Kochanowicz of the Angels threw the 97.1 mph fastball on August 18 that broke Austin Riley’s right hand, he did so without malice in his heart. On Tuesday, Kochanowicz was making his fourth career start while Criswell was making his eighth appearance of the season.
Everybody must start somewhere. But there’s concern that the infatuation with velocity has led to too many pitchers coming up through the ranks without proving they have sufficient command and control.
“From our coaching and player development and at the big league level, our focus is primarily on taking that stuff and commanding and controlling the baseball,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “So I know that’s our first priority. But there’s no doubt that there’s pitchers throughout the league, in the Major Leagues and the Minor Leagues, who are turning the ball loose at times with … I don’t want to say intent, but the focus is more on stuff over command.”
From the time we were kids, many of us have argued with an older relative about how current players are throwing harder than the guys of yesteryear. You might have had a few outliers, but we are a species that continues to become bigger, faster and stronger.
So it shouldn’t be surprising to see just how much an average fastball velocity has changed over the past 17 seasons.
MLB’s average four-seam velocity
2008: 91.9 mph
2014: 92.8 mph
2024: 94.2 mph
There has also been a 36 percent increase in HBP totals over the past 14 seasons.
MLB’s hit-by-pitch totals since 1980
1980: 657 (2,105 games, 0.31 per game)
1990: 861 (2,105 games, 0.41 per game)
2000: 1,572 (2,429 games, 0.65 per game)
2010: 1,549 (2,430 games, 0.64 per game
2023: 2,112 (2,430 games, 0.87 per game)
What might be a suitable repercussion for pitchers who hit a batter above the shoulders with a fastball? Merrifield is part of the rules committee (six owners, four players and one umpire) that will discuss this issue.
