Phillies rival, familiar face unfortunately saw Bryce Harper injury coming a mile away

The Philadelphia Phillies could be in for some of the worst possible news at a bad time.

Their superstar first baseman, Bryce Harper, has been favoring his right elbow (the one he had Tommy John surgery on) over the last few days, notably at the end of last night's game against the Blue Jays.

Now, less than 24 hours after that strikeout where Harper seemed to have real issue with finishing his swing, Harper has an issue with the other elbow.

Harper was drilled by a first inning Bowden Francis fastball in the left elbow that left him in a ton of pain, though he stayed in the game. Yet, when the third inning rolled around, Edmundo Sosa would come in to pinch hit for Harper.

It seems as though there's an epidemic of hit by pitch injuries this season. I'm not the only one that is seeing or saying that though. There's a former Phillies player that has been very vocal about this same issue.

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Former Phillie, Whit Merrifield critiques inside pitching one day before Bryce Harper HBP injury

Former Phillies utility man, Whit Merrifield, now Atlanta Braves utility man, spoke out about this exact situation after he was drilled in the head Tuesday.

"It's bulls---; it's driving me nuts," Merrifield said Tuesday after being hit in the head by a 94.5 mph fastball in the Braves' victory over the Colorado Rockies. "I hate where the game is at right now with that."

"It's just ridiculous," he continued. "Where the game is at right now, it's just ridiculous. ... The way pitchers are throwing now, there's no remorse or regard for throwing up and in. Guys are throwing hard as they can and they don't care where the ball goes."

And Merrifield has a good point with that statement.

The comeback to this, from the pitching perspective, is always, 'Well, pitching inside is part of the game.'

Admittedly, pitching inside is part of the game. But there needs to be some sort of middle ground between drilling guys and not being allowed to pitch inside. Merrifield stressed about the idea that pitchers are training to throw as hard as humanly possible, with no regard for where it goes.

Pairing that with the emphasis on pitching inside is a recipe for disaster. The solution to something like this is incredibly complicated and hard to predict. You can't just throw guys out after one hit batter. You can't just throw guys out because they lack control. It's a very slippery slope, but Merrifield is right, it is getting ridiculous across the MLB landscape.