ATLANTA — A day after being hit in the back of the head by a 95-mile-per-hour fastball, Atlanta Braves veteran Whit Merrifield predicted that the MLB Competition Committee, of which he is a member, will implement a rule by next season that would impose penalties on pitchers who hit batters with similarly high and inside fastballs.

The 11-member committee, which consists of six club representatives, four players and an umpire, had a previously scheduled meeting on Wednesday. The automatic strike zone or ABS (Automated Balls and Strikes) was the main topic of discussion, but not the only one. Merrifield made sure of that.

He is one of many players calling for a rule that penalizes pitchers who hit batters with fastballs that break hands and wrists or hit players in the head or neck. He said the committee is fairly open-minded.

“Yes, we will have something going when the season starts next year,” Merrifield said. “I would be shocked if we didn’t.”

Merrifield passed all concussion protocol tests administered at Truist Park on Tuesday, then went to a local clinic for a CT scan late Tuesday, where he was also diagnosed with a medical condition. He didn’t have the headache he expected Wednesday, but still felt “a little lightheaded” and said it hurt to wear a hat.

He thought he might be ready to play in the Braves’ series finale against Colorado on Thursday, but Merrifield and manager Brian Snitker agreed they would wait to see how he felt before making a decision.

Whit Merrifield said the penalty would force pitchers to think: “Okay, you’re calling for a fastball, so let’s try to get this thing under control.” (Brett Davis / USA Today)

Meanwhile, Merrifield’s angry tirade after Tuesday’s game quickly gained popularity across baseball, in which he used words like “pathetic” and “bullshit” to describe the state of MLB pitching and the lack of retaliation for hitters or penalties for pitchers who hit them in the head or hands with fastballs.

“I can’t tell you how many times my phone has rung because players have said, ‘Thank God someone is finally talking about this,'” said Merrifield, 35. “Pitchers too, which is a little surprising. A lot of pitchers have reached out to me and said, ‘Yeah, it’s ridiculous what some of these young players are doing.’

“So it just depends on how you write it, what the fine print of the rules is. If a player ducks the ball and gets hit in the head, does that count? Things like that.”

The meeting happened to take place the morning after Merrifield became the latest in a string of Braves players hit by fastballs over the past two and a half weeks, including third baseman Austin Riley, who is on the injured list for six to eight weeks after Los Angeles Angels rookie Jack Kochanowicz broke his hand.

Snitker said after catcher Travis d’Arnaud and Riley were hit by Angels pitchers on back-to-back days — d’Arnaud had a forearm bruise that kept him out of action for five games — that he thought MLB should do something about the accumulation of HBPs. Asked if he agreed with Merrifield, Snitker said Wednesday, “Yes, I do. We’ve had several guys hit. Yes, I can understand the frustration of those guys because I think that’s a cause for concern.”

In response to Merrifield’s statement that a rule should be in place by next season, Snitker said, “I think it’s necessary for the safety of the players.”

Snitker was asked if the rule was intended to discourage teams from bringing pitchers to the major leagues before they are ready and to make it clear to young pitchers that they do not have to throw every pitch with maximum effort, without regard for command and control.

“All of that,” said Snitker. “All of the above.”

Merrifield was hit by Rockies rookie Jeff Criswell, who also allowed three walks in his 1 2/3 inning relief appearance, the seventh of his career. Afterward, Merrifield told some reporters he was tired of seeing teammates and other players hit, it was “driving me crazy.”

“I just got 95 straight to the head. I’m very lucky it put me in a good position and I have to go get a CAT scan,” he said late Tuesday. “I’m out of the game, he gets to stay in the game and throw, I probably won’t be able to play tomorrow.”

He added: “It’s honestly pathetic that some of the pitchers we put out there don’t know where the ball is going, and that’s at the major league level. That has to change. It just makes me so angry.”

Merrifield said he would raise the issue during the committee meeting the next day, and he did so on Wednesday. Baltimore Orioles pitcher Corbin Burnes, Orioles outfielder Austin Slater and Chicago Cubs outfielder Ian Happ are also members of the committee.

“It was good,” Merrifield said of the meeting. “It was mainly about the ABS, the challenge system. But we also talked about (hit batters). Everyone is in agreement, it’s just a matter of what the penalty will be and how we will word it.”

They discussed how other sports have dealt with the elimination of harmful or dangerous game elements.

“The NFL imposes a hefty fine, while college football imposes exclusion,” said Merrifield. “There are blatant variations in the NBA, and in soccer too.”

Merrifield believes MLB will try to reduce the number of batters hit by up-and-in fastballs by implementing a rule that gives umpires some discretion in deciding when a violation has occurred, but in many cases it would be obvious.

“I think if a player gets hit by a fastball — like I got hit in the head by a fastball last night — (the pitcher) should be ejected,” Merrifield said. “I think you should take a day or two off of pay. I think if a player rolls over an opponent and breaks his hand, there should be a fine. Not necessarily an ejection, but a fine.”

He added that the intent behind such a rule and penalty would be “to make pitchers think, ‘Okay, you want to bring in a fastball, let’s try to get that thing under control.’ Instead of just trying to rip it up.”

Regarding possible penalties, Merrifield said: “They have to be significant. I mean, you have to look at football players, they had to completely change their tackling techniques. Or they lose tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars. So …

“It just has to happen before something bad happens.”

(Photo by Whit Merrifield: Todd Kirkland/Getty Images)