Veteran Pitcher Liam Hendriks Gives Blunt Reaction to 'Golden at-Bat' Idea

Count Hendriks among those opposed to the rule change.

Boston Red Sox pitcher Liam Hendriks is not a fan of the proposed golden at-bat rule that's floating around. / William Purnell-Imagn Images

Major League Baseball is considering adopting a "golden at-bat" rule that would allow teams, once per game, to put their best hitter in the batter's box no matter what spot they're at in the lineup.

It's safe to say that this rule is outside the box (to say the least), and would really alter the way that baseball is played. Because of that reason, it's not a very popular proposal if you're asking Boston Red Sox veteran relief pitcher Liam Hendriks.

"It's just a terrible idea. It's horrible," Hendriks said, via Christopher Smith of MassLive. "You're just changing the entire [nature] of the game. The pitch clock is what it is and other things like that, but now you're changing the whole entire nature of the game. And it's just another way to add offense. At the end of the day, everything seems to be leaning very much towards offense rather than pitching or defense or anything like that. I think what you need to do is you need to pay guys for getting base hits and high averages. When you start doing that, then all of a sudden those guys are getting on base and that's a pain in the a--."

Commissioner Rob Manfred may need to tread lightly on this one.

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