Nationals' Scherzer on DH-in-NL comments: 'I was making an attempt to be funny'

Washington Nationals right-hander Max Scherzer is attempting to clear the air. 

Following a season-ending injury to Adam Wainwright in which the St. Louis Cardinals right-hander tore his Achilles while running out of the batter's box, Scherzer told Jon Heyman of CBS Sports that no one wants to see the pitcher hit. 

"If you look at it from the macro side, who'd people rather see hit - Big Papi or me?" Scherzer said Sunday. "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."

Scherzer's comment drew the ire of San Francisco Giants ace Madison Bumgarner, leading Scherzer to issue a statement Tuesday in an attempt to clarify his comments. 

Jon asked me if the National League had the DH would it have made a difference in regards to Adam's injury and I responded "no" as I believe it to be a freak injury and had nothing to do with him actually hitting. 

Jon asked me how I liked hitting in the NL since I made the switch over from the AL and I told John that I love to hit and enjoyed all of it (bunting, hitting, running the bases, etc.) to help our team anyway to win a game. he asked if I thought the NL should have the DH (sic) just like the AL and my response was simply an opinion that I thought at some point it would be good for both leagues to have the same rules. 

As for my comments about who would people rather see hit and me swinging a wet newspaper, anyone who knows me knows I am an outgoing, fun and jokester kind of a guy. I was making an attempt to be funny with those comments and nothing more. And therein lies the problem... I respect their need for the media to do their job however in some instances what they write portrays a player in a negative light and only provides one particular argument or side. 

I did not seek out to be the spokesperson for the NL adopting the DH. As all of my fellow players can relate to, this is simply a case of a reporter taking a casual comment and turning it into a story with a specific agenda, therefore it was important to me to set the record straight and let the full context of the conversation be heard. 

Scherzer, who spent five years in the American League before signing with the Nationals this winter, is a career .159/.196/.193 hitter in 102 plate appearances.