There has been some recent talk – some serious, some probably for fun – of putting a pitcher in the Home Run Derby. Cubs ace Jake Arrieta has taken that talk a step further: he wants a version of the Home Run Derby for pitchers only.
“We both love to hit,” Arrieta said of himself and Madison Bumgarner, via MLB.com’s Carrie Muskat. “You talk to a lot of people who don’t like pitchers to hit, but we love it. We take it really seriously. We’re in the cage hitting, we’re actually trying to work on things. We have the ability to help ourselves out. I’m not going up there trying to make an out.”
Cubs manager Joe Maddon said he wasn’t exactly sure about the idea, but not because of injury concerns.
“Everybody’s afraid of injuries,” Maddon said. “Everybody’s afraid everybody’s going to get hurt every day. I don’t subscribe to that theory, so I don’t worry about it.”
Bumgarner has voiced his desire to be in the real Home Run Derby. It’s unclear whether he’d settle for a hypothetical pitcher version.
