Madison Bumgarner is not happy about Max Scherzer’s DH comments
Should Major League Baseball adopt a universal designated hitter? While the question has been debated for quite some time, Adam Wainwright’s recent injury, suffered while batting, has intensified the issue.
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Washington Nationals starter Max Scherzer was the first to speak out about the situation, telling CBSSports.com’s Jon Heyman he believes both leagues should have the same rules.
“If you look at it from the macro side, who’d people rather see hit — Big Papi or me?” Scherzer said. “Who would people rather see, a real hitter hitting home runs or a pitcher swinging a wet newspaper? Both leagues need to be on the same set of rules.”
San Francisco Giants starter and World Series MVP Madison Bumgarner took issue with those comments. Bumgarner told the Mercury News that Scherzer knew what he was getting into when he signed in the National League.
“He knew the rules,” Bumgarner said. “Whatever much he signed for – what did he get, again? – he didn’t have a problem signing his name. He didn’t have a problem with hitting then. I’m sure he had his pick of anywhere he wanted to go.”
Bumgarner added that he feels terrible about the Wainwright injury, but doesn’t think taking the bat out of the pitcher’s hands changes anything.
“What if he got hurt pitching? Should we say we can’t pitch anymore?” Bumgarner said. “I hate what happened to him. He works his butt off out there. But I don’t think it was because he was hitting. What if he gets hurt getting out of his truck? You tell him not to drive anymore?
“That’s the way the game has to be played. I appreciate both sides of the argument and I get it. But (ending pitcher plate appearances) isn’t the way to go about (addressing) it.”
After seeing those comments, Scherzer responded, saying his quotes were “taken out of context.”
Scherzer stood by his opinion that both leagues should have the same rules, but said his comments about specific players were made in jest. It was those comments that seemed in incite Bumgarner, so Scherzer was likely trying to squash any potential beef with another player.
For what it’s worth, there was nothing all that egregious about Scherzer’s initial comments. He was asked for his opinion, and he gave a reasonable response. He didn’t directly insult any players, either. If anything, he was being self-deprecating about his own abilities at the plate.
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Bumgarner didn’t see it that way, and now we have one of our first dumb controversies of the season. Bumgarner takes pride in his production at the plate, and that’s fine, but coming at Scherzer for having a different opinion is an overreaction.
The fact that Scherzer felt the need to apologize just further highlights the absurdity of the situation. There was nothing wrong with Scherzer’s comments, and now he’s managed to drag a reporter into the whole mess.
Whether baseball should have a universal designated hitter is a highly debated issue, and it’s going to cause hot takes. Expressing a reasonable opinion, like Scherzer did, is the right way to go about it. Taking it personally, well, that’s just silly.
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Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik
