Adam Wainwright may have gotten injured while standing in the batter's box, but the St. Louis Cardinals ace isn't an advocate of bringing the designated hitter rule into the National League.
Wainwright suffered a season-ending Achilles injury Saturday when breaking from the batter's box during an at-bat against the Milwaukee Brewers, but when asked about the opinion of many people who believe it's high time the DH came to the Senior Circuit, he wasn't having it.
"I couldn't disagree more with that," Wainwright said, according to MLB.com. "I just think baseball is a National League game. I wish both leagues would convert to National League baseball. And I understand why people would say that, but you can't point to another instance, almost, where the pitcher has hurt [his] Achilles doing that kind of thing. Running the bases? Maybe once or twice a year. Maybe."
Wainwright says he also enjoys the strategy that comes along with pitchers having to hit.
"Baseball, the strategy and the game itself in the National League is just a better game, in my opinion," he said. "I hope that people don't look at this -- which I know they already are --- and think that we should switch to a DH now. Baseball is a beautiful game. I just hope it doesn't change too much."
Wainwright's injury spurned a much talked about debate over whether it's time the NL joins the rest of the world in adopting the DH rule.
Washington Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer appeared to advocate it, but he backed down from his comments and said he was trying to be funny after San Francisco Giants ace Madison Bumgarner offered a heated rebuttal.
Wainwright, 32, was 2-1 this season with a 1.44 ERA through two starts and had 18 strikeouts when he went down. The right-hander said he could have gotten hurt in any manner, but it just so happened he was batting at the time.
"It's really not much different that exploding off the mound to get a ground ball or covering first or fielding a bunt," Wainwright said about his injury. "It could have happened at any time. Listening to the doctors, there is no reason it happened. It wasn't like it was an incredibly weak tendon. It could have happened doing anything -- I could have been carrying my daughter up the stairs and it happened. So you outlaw carrying your daughter up the stairs? Or outlaw covering first? Outlaw fielding a bunt? It was a fluke thing, and baseball needs to stay just the way it is."
Wainwright won 20 games for the Cardinals last season and ranked fifth in the NL with a 2.38 ERA while he paced the NL in starts (34), wins (19), complete games (5), shutouts (2, tied) and innings pitched (241.2) in 2013.
The Cardinals are off to a 13-6 start and sit in first place in the NL Central, a game ahead of the Cubs. St. Louis will have to carry on the rest of the way without its ace.
For more content, follow us on Twitter @SportsWN or LIKE US on Facebook
© Copyright 2024 Sports World News, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.