Say goodbye to sacrifice bunts (NL adopting the DH rule in 2022)

truebluela ^ | Feb 11, 2022 | Blake Harris

[MinorityRepublican]

On Thursday, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said the designated hitter is expected to be coming to the National League in 2022.

Whether or not you’re a fan of the move, it’s certainly the end of an era. Personally, I will welcome it with open arms as it will certainly benefit the Dodgers. They’ll be able to shuffle guys in the lineup and get guys off their feet.

With that being said, there is one thing in particular I’ll miss more than anything. Clayton Kershaw’s sacrifice bunts. Not only was Kershaw the best pitcher of the last decade, but he was arguably the best bunter.

Seriously, nobody did it better.

[MinorityRepublican]

Who will be the national leagues Edgar Martinez, David Ortiz, Frank Thomas?

Not really. They don't exist. Usually someone like ARod is a DH but he's now 40 years old, bats .220 and hit 30 home runs. Strikes out a lot though.

[dr4gey]

Greg Maddux was the best. Bobby Cox would even use him in pinch hitting situations to bunt when Maddux wasn’t pitching.

[OrangeHoof]

But, technically, a pitcher being used to pinch-hit or pinch-run is a PH or PR, unless they stay in the game to pitch (very unlikely).

[scrabblehack]

Yes, it’s been that way in the AL too. The thing is, a “good” hitting pitcher is .250; a “good” hitting fielder is .330.

[oh8eleven]

Don't forget interleague play ...

I'm a Yankee fan and used to root for a Yankees - Mets WS every year. Now, I couldn't care less.

[chrisinoc]

The Dodgers used to have pitchers who could hit, too. Rick Rhoden, Terry Forster, and of course Don Drysdale were all very good to excellent hitters.

---

Fernando Valenzuela was a pretty good hitter.

On the other end Sandy Koufax was one of the worst hitters ever. It was even suggested he bat left handed and take the automatic out to avoid exposure of his left arm while batting right handed.

[Dr. Sivana]

But, technically, a pitcher being used to pinch-hit or pinch-run is a PH or PR, unless they stay in the game to pitch (very unlikely).

The pitcher who is already in the game will have to hit in the spot of the player that the DH is replacing. The wikipedia entry is actually not too long:

The designated hitter can be moved to a fielding position during the game. If the DH is moved to another position, his team forfeits the role of the designated hitter,[7] and the pitcher or another player (the latter possible only in case of a multiple substitution) would bat in the spot of the position player replaced by the former DH. If the designated hitter is moved to pitcher, any subsequent pitcher (or pinch-hitter thereof) would bat should that spot in the batting order come up again (except for a further multiple substitution). Likewise, if a pinch-hitter bats for a non-pitcher, and then remains in the game as the pitcher, the team would forfeit the use of the DH for the remainder of the game, and the player who was DH would become a position player (or exit the game).

Unlike other positions, the DH is "locked" into the batting order. No multiple substitution may be made to alter the batting rotation of the DH. In other words, a double switch involving the DH and a position player is not legal. For example, if the DH is batting fourth and the catcher is batting eighth, the manager cannot replace both players so as to have the new catcher bat fourth and the new DH bat eighth. Once a team loses its DH under any of the scenarios discussed in the previous paragraph, the double switch becomes fully available, and may well be used via necessity, should the former DH be replaced in the lineup.

[Radix]

Worst thing that Baseball ever did was play games at night. Next worst thing was the DH.

I stopped watching forever in 1994 when those fools went on strike.

Baseball is played in the daylight and every Player should have to use a glove. Around my area, David Ortiz is an icon. I think much less of him than do my neighbors.

[Alberta's Child]

WGAF.

The NL would have had far more credibility to keep the pitcher in the lineup if these pitchers didn't almost universally suck at the plate.

The game will survive, though I suspect it will continue to fade as a major sport for reasons that have nothing to do with the DH rule.

[libertylover]

If they do that why not just go to complete platoon baseball with a complete offensive team and a complete defensive team? It would be easy in baseball.

I do not advocate that and I don’t like designated hitters.

[MinorityRepublican]

The game will survive, though I suspect it will continue to fade as a major sport for reasons that have nothing to do with the DH rule.

Alienating core fans in the National League is not a good move. Sabermetrics is another. Like you said, baseball will still be around. Something to do to kill time in a couple of hours in the lazy afternoon during the summer. Many of the players are from the Dominican Republic and Venezuela so we are not passing down the National Pastime to the next generation here in the U.S.

[Jim Noble]

I guess this means the Dodgers aren’t coming back, huh?

[cowboyusa]

10 second clock for pitcher and batters.

[Alberta's Child]

Good point about interleague play, but the DH was a relic that should have ended years ago for one simple reason: As far as I know, the NL in Major League Baseball was the last league anywhere that still used it.

[MinorityRepublican]

If they do that why not just go to complete platoon baseball with a complete offensive team and a complete defensive team? It would be easy in baseball.

9 batters. 9 fielders. Each fielder is a "designated fielder". Each batter is a "designated hitter". Why not?

[Alberta's Child]

Orel Hershiser hit .356 one season with the Dodgers in 80+ plate appearances. That’s unbelievable for ANY hitter!

[GreenHornet]

The NL would have had far more credibility to keep the pitcher in the lineup if these pitchers didn't almost universally suck at the plate.

During an appearance on The Tonight Show, Bob Uecker told Johnny Carson the other team would intentionally walk the pitcher to get to him.

[Alberta's Child]

Alienating core fans in the National League is not a good move.

I'll bet you that demographic is so small these days that it barely shows up on the radar screen.

They might be just a bit more numerous than football fans who hated the NFL when it allowed free substitution and did away with two-way players about a thousand years ago.

[Alberta's Child]

LOL.

[Night Hides Not]

Greg Maddux was the best. Bobby Cox would even use him in pinch hitting situations to bunt when Maddux wasn’t pitching.

Catfish Hunter ranked right up there. I'll never forget 1971 when he hit .350, though I looked and didn't see any years resembling that.

Maddux's hitting stats were comparable to Hunter's.