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Pirates' Harrison sounds off after HBP fractures hand again

Michael Reaves / Getty Images Sport / Getty

For the second time in less than a year, a fractured hand sent Pittsburgh Pirates second baseman Josh Harrison to the disabled list.

Last September, Harrison's 2017 season was ended when a high-and-inside fastball broke a bone in his hand. On Sunday, a similar-looking inside pitch from Miami Marlins right-hander Jose Urena fractured the exact same bone.

Three days later, the 30-year-old All-Star was still angry over how an inside pitch sent him to the DL yet again.

"If you can't command in, don't throw in, and if you're going to throw in, don't throw up and in," Harrison told reporters, according to Elizabeth Bloom of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "I'd rather my legs than my hand or my face."

The pitch that hit Harrison on Sunday was an up-and-in fastball that was called for by the Marlins' catcher. Urena, who threw the pitch, hit an MLB-leading 14 batters in 2017, and he leads all pitchers with four HBPs so far this season.

For Harrison, it's more than just getting hit again and fracturing the same bone on the same kind of pitch. He's of the belief that his injuries are symptoms of a bigger issue in the sport: too many pitchers throwing heat inside without the requisite control.

"I think around baseball, guys throw too hard now, and there are more throwers than pitchers, guys that just throw and don't know where it's going, so I think that's got to be taken into account," Harrison said. "You start mixing in guys that want to start a slide step and then throw it. Their job is to throw off our timing. At the end of the day, that's what they're supposed to do.

"But when you start mixing in guys, just throwing hard, and not know where it's going, and then throwing off timing, that's when it becomes a hazard issue."

Harrison added that he's considering wearing a special protective batting glove once he's ready to return in six weeks.

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