[TBP]

This interesting observation was posted on a FAcebook baseball group I belong to:

“I was doing a little research. All this talk about DHers being accomplished hitters. I couldn’t find easily gathered stats for 2018; but I did for ‘17. Of the “top 15” not 1 batted .300 26 guys, that are real players batted .300 that season but the guys that “hit for a living” not only couldn’t hit .300, none came close. The guy that came closest was Corey Dickerson. He hit .282 and he’s in the NL now. 9 hit .250 or less. 1 hit less than .200. The top 9 paid DHers for this coming season are going to make about $175,000,000 combined. 1 would think that at least 1 of these guys with what they’re being paid that “hit for a living” would be Triple Crown contenders.”

[SamAdams76]

Thanks for the info. Your data backs up my perception that the DH position is basically a place to park aging ballplayers who are past their prime and who likely would have failed to earn a roster slot had they had to compete for a field position.

In many cases, the DH is a former slugger well past his glory days. Good for the occasional dramatic home run, they are basically an easy out, as your stats point out. Ball clubs are just not getting their bang for the buck.

[Alberta's Child]

Those are interesting stats, but they seem misleading to me. Go back and see the same figures for home runs, RBIs and slugging pct. Most DHs seem to be power hitters these days. Giancarlo Stanton, for example, was the Yankees’ DH last year most of the time. He only hit .266 but he led the team in HRs and RBIs.