If Barry Bonds were playing today, how would he fare against modern-day pitching? Pretty well, according to him.
The former Giants slugger joined Stephen Bishop and former MLB player Jerry Hairston Jr. on the latest episode of the "Hollywood Swingin' " podcast, where he answered that exact question.
"We always have the competition with players, 'Could you play in our generation?' Yeah, I can play in your generation, matter of fact I'd kill your generation and they're like, 'Oh, you old players think you can do this.' Not that we think we can do it, we know we can do it, there's not a difference," Bonds said.
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The all-time home run king believes hitters in today's game have it easier at the plate than hitters like himself and other sluggers who played in the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s, despite the record velocity and wicked movement seen from the current generation of pitchers. Even a 58-year-old Bonds is confident he still can catch up to a heater from, say, a flame-throwing Camilo Doval.
"Now there's so much on speed with the pitchers ... and now everyone in the bullpen, everyone on the pitching staff throws 95 miles per hour, so they don't have to adapt," Bonds explained. "My generation, you'd face professionals that throw 64-mph curveballs, the changes of speed are a lot different in my generation and then you had a specialist or a closer that threw 100. I try telling them, you don't think we had guys that threw 100 mph, we had guys that threw 100 mph. No big deal, the harder you throw it, the farther it goes, I don't really care.
"But if you all are going to throw 95 mph and you all are going to be behind in the count, I'm going to beat you. I don't care who you are, I'm 58 years old and I don't care how hard you throw, I can still hit it. Now can I hit it as far? No, I'm not in as [good] physical shape to do that, but can I hit the baseball? For sure."
Bonds cites the lack of old-school gamesmanship and pitchers no longer intentionally throwing at or near hitters as another reason why hitting is easier in today's game compared to when he played.
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"In this generation, is it a little bit easier? Sure," Bonds added. "Why? Because you guys just take batting practice pretty much. Nobody gets hit, nobody gets knocked down. If you can tell me I can go up to the plate, swing a baseball bat, flip it into the stands, high-five everybody up there, and not get my head taken off, I'm going to hit a home run almost every time up.
"Me, I had to get to the plate, hit a home run, come up the next at-bat, not even flip my bat or do anything and know that I'm definitely still going to get hit regardless. So I have to stay in the box, learn how to dodge it and swing a bat at the same time? It's just different, it's just a different era. Do I think players should get hit because they flipped their bats or whatever? No, I don't think a player should get hit."
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There is no doubt that Bonds' power and incredible eye at the plate certainly would translate to today's game, which focuses so much on home runs and walks. But would he maintain the exact same level of success across the board against modern-day pitching? Unfortunately for baseball fans young and old, we will never find out.