Mizzou in the Pros

Nationals' Max Scherzer addresses comments about having DH in NL

Max Scherzer's comments about having the DH in the NL made some headlines over the last couple days, so the Washington Nationals' right-hander took to Twitter to address the "non-troversy" over what he reportedly said.

By Patrick Reddington@federalbaseball Apr 28, 2015, 6:03pm EDT

Just to recap this as quickly as possible... Right-handed starter Max Scherzer, who signed a 7-year/$210M deal with the Washington Nationals this winter, injured his right thumb as he connected on a ground ball during last Thursday's game against the St. Louis Cardinals. Scherzer stayed on the mound for two innings after he jammed the thumb, but left for a pinch hitter after that. His thumb became swollen more than expected that night and he was unable to throw a bullpen session over the weekend, so he was held out of tonight's scheduled start against the Braves in Atlanta's Turner Field.

CBSSports.com's Jon Heyman was in the nation's capital for the series with St. Louis, and the national baseball writer talked to Scherzer about the injury and his feelings on returning to the National League and picking up a bat again after having spent the previous five seasons in the American League with Detroit and the injury Adam Wainwright sustained after the series with the Nats when he injured his Achilles' tendon coming out of the batter's box.

After watching the replay of Wainwright's injury, Heyman wrote, Scherzer, "... called the news 'brutal,'" and, "... suggested he has come to the conclusion the use of a designated hitter throughout baseball makes sense."

"'I wouldn't be opposed,'" Heyman quoted Scherzer saying:

"'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.'"

"'Those kids, they want to see V-Mart hit," Scherzer said, pointing out a group of children on the field at Marlins Park. "Those kids don't want to see me hit. No one want to see a pitcher hit. No one pays money for that."

Scherzer's comments made the rounds on the internet and yesterday San Francisco Giants' starter Madison Bumgarner made some public comments about Scherzer's printed thoughts.

Talking to Mercury News writer Andrew Baggarly, Bumgarner referenced Scherzer's quotes and shared his opinion on the comments:

"'Oh, well, my wet newspaper is 34 ½ inches, 33 ½ ounces, and I’m waiting on some new ones right now,'" Bumgarner told the Mercury News reporter:

"'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.'"

Scherzer's comments to Heyman gained enough traction that he felt the need to address the issue of having the DH in the NL on his own Twitter account this afternoon: