To DH, or not to DH?

Columbia-Greene Media ^ | Friday, July 3, 2015 | Vince Ginardi

[MinorityRepublican]

In 1973, Major League Baseball changed forever. Following a year when the American League recorded a batting average of .239, the AL instituted the designated hitter rule, allowing a team to place a hitter in the batting order instead of forcing the team’s pitcher to step up to the plate. Since that season, there has been an imbalance between the AL and the National League — which still requires a spot in the batting order for the team’s pitcher.

Now, more than 40 years later, talks of making the two leagues consistent have begun to heat up once again. “It’s interesting, I have never been bothered that’s there’s a little difference between the two leagues. I love to hear people fight about it,” MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said on a New York Yankees broadcast in early June. “I’m a big one for the idea that if people are talking about baseball, it’s good for all of us. I think it’s a great source of debate.”

It didn’t take long for the debate to start this season. On April 26, St. Louis Cardinals star pitcher Adam Wainwright suffered a season-ending Achilles tendon tear while at bat, leading many — MLB players included — to question the reasoning behind forcing pitchers to hit in the NL.

“If you look at it from the macro side, who’d people rather see hit — Big Papi or me?,” Washington Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer said following Wainright’s injury, according to CBS Sports. “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.”

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

We agree (within the limits of the fact that I know next to nothing about hockey), but altho an edge for the home team which is an ineluctable part of the game (home team bats last, somebody has to bat last) is OK, it does seem like there ought to be a way to ameliorate the pinch hitter issue.

But if you allowed the visiting pitcher to pitch the bottom of the inning in which he had been pinch hit for, then if he didn’t finish the inning whoever replaced him would be the one who was, retroactively, pinch hit for. But, IMHO that might work. Looks to me like it would be better than the current NL system - and, IMHO, better than the AL system as well.

It is a corruption of the spirit of the rules that there should be players whose ability or inability to bat doesn’t matter, and equally so that there should be players whose ability or inability to play defense doesn’t matter.

[Alberta's Child]

That's an interesting idea I hadn't considered.

It's interesting that NL fans often cite the more complicated strategic decisions the manager must make as evidence of the NL's superiority, but I think it's actually the opposite. The whole strategy of a double-switch, for example, points to the biggest flaw in having pitchers hit. Just think about it ... when an NL manager makes a double switch, he's saying (in effect): "I'm changing pitchers, and my new pitcher is such an awful hitter that I have change my left fielder, too." What the heck does this say about the NL game?

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

The whole strategy of a double-switch, for example, points to the biggest flaw in having pitchers hit. Just think about it ... when an NL manager makes a double switch, he's saying (in effect): "I'm changing pitchers, and my new pitcher is such an awful hitter that I have change my left fielder, too." What the heck does this say about the NL game?

It shows that there is a cost to having a pitcher who can’t hit. Not enough so the advantage of the pitching specialist is outweighed - but there is a cost. If your pitcher is the second coming of Babe Ruth - who held some major leageu pitching records before switching to outfield - you don’t have to pinch hit for him. If your pitcher bats .120 and you are behind late in the game, you do.

And it shows that, in the NL, your pinch hitter is a more valuable player if he isn’t a defensive liability than he is if you cringe if you see a ball hit in his direction.