Major League Baseball

Giants' Bumgarner rips Nationals' Scherzer over thoughts on DH

Published Apr. 28, 2015 10:47 a.m. ET

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San Francisco Giants ace Madison Bumgarner rejected the notion forwarded by Washington Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer that the National League would be far better off adopting the designated hitter rule.

Scherzer’s comments suggesting the implementation of the DH in the National League came on the heels of St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright suffering a season-ending injury on Saturday when tearing his Achilles while stumbling out of the batter’s box while hitting against the Milwaukee Brewers.

“If you look at it from the macro side, who’d people rather see hit -- Big Papi or me?” Scherzer told CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman. “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.”

Bumgarner, who hit four home runs in 2014 including two grand slams, took offense to Scherzer equating a bat in a pitcher’s hand to a wet newspaper.

“Oh well, my wet newspaper is 34½ inches, 33½ ounces, and I’m waiting on some new ones right now,” Bumgarner told the San Jose Mercury News.

Bumgarner also took a shot at Scherzer by pointing out he was well aware of the fact that pitchers bat in the National League when he signed a seven-year, $210 million contract with the Nationals.

“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.”

For what it’s worth, Bumgarner batted .258 last season, winning the Silver Slugger Award. He has been held hitless, though, in seven at-bats this season.

Scherzer, meanwhile, is batting .111 (1 for 9) in his return to the NL, although he did hit .226 during a full season with the Diamondbacks in 2009.

The news that Scherzer will miss his start Tuesday against the Braves on Tuesday after spraining his right thumb during an at-bat last week arguably bolsters the pitcher’s pro-DH stance, but probably not enough to sway Bumgarner’s opinion.

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