Unilateral NL DH by 2021?

[DrungoHazewood]

Handy reference point for this discussion: 2019 NL pitchers hit .131/.161/.168 with a .329 OPS.  They struck out in 43% of their plate appearances.  They stole four bases.  The average NL pitcher had an OPS .252 points worse than Richie Martin.

[Just Regular]

Hitter vs. Pitcher is the game's essence.  Hooray for not wasting ~5% of the NL contests of the best in the world at what they do against the best in the world at what they do on...something else.  And yay for Mancini Trade Value - let's get this announced.

[esmd]

1 hour ago, DrungoHazewood said:

The Lost Cause mythos will have nothing on the NL purists who will go to their graves lamenting the loss of the God-given right for pitchers to OPS .288.

Lol.....well said.....

[esmd]

11 minutes ago, sevastras said:

Madison Bumgardner will retire, he loves hitting

I don't see why a manager could choose to NOT have a DH if a pitcher is a good hitter.  Doubt any of them will, but I think technically you could allow your pitcher to hit in the AL, correct.  Doesn't Shohei Otani hit?

[wildbillhiccup]

This makes sense and is long overdue, but only to balance things out. I truly hate what the DH has become (i.e., the guy who isn't athletic enough to play the field), but I also hate watching 90% of the pitchers try to hit. I'd love to see them put some sort of rule in place where an everyday player can only play a certain percentage of his games at DH throughout the year. 

[mdbdotcom]

Have to put an asterisk next to every player's stats.

[jamalshw]

1 hour ago, Philip said:

 No, please no. Just no. No. One of the best things about baseball is the difference between the two leagues caused by the American having a designated hitter, and the national not. We constantly talk about the need for variety in life, Why in the world who do we want to eliminate it needlessly?

Baseball still has much more variety than any other sport. No other sport has varying distances in its field of play. That in itself provides some variety.

I'm onboard with a universal DH, but I wonder if it opens the door for more playing time for no-hit SS or C types. I also wonder if/when a team will use the DH to replace said light hitting defensive whiz rather than the pitcher (when, say, Ohtani or Bumgarner are on the mound).

The universal DH could also open the door to more two-way players. While you don't have pitchers hitting as frequently. You have more opportunities to use a pitcher at the plate without the threat of using him in the field, too.

[MurphDogg]

33 minutes ago, wildbillhiccup said:

This makes sense and is long overdue, but only to balance things out. I truly hate what the DH has become (i.e., the guy who isn't athletic enough to play the field), but I also hate watching 90% of the pitchers try to hit. I'd love to see them put some sort of rule in place where an everyday player can only play a certain percentage of his games at DH throughout the year. 

Only 6 players had 100 or more appearances at DH last year and only 11 players with at least 20 DH appearances had more appearances at DH than in the field.

There are very few DH only guys in the league, Nelson Cruz, Khris Davis and Shoehei Otani were the only players who didn't play at least 10 games in the field.

[Mr. Chewbacca Jr.]

1 hour ago, Moose Milligan said:

It'd make life easier.

You don't see the NFC not having field goal kickers and being awarded 7 points for a touchdown while the AFC still has to kick the PAT, right?  Sports should have the same rules across all leagues/divisions.  Being quirky when it comes to rules isn't really something to be proud of.

By that logic, the dimensions of each baseball field should be exactly the same.

I like the differences between the leagues. It is what makes baseball unique. I like the idea of pitchers hitting, but in today's game, I think it's run its course.  It's basically an automatic out at this point - and leads to some really unexciting baseball. Wouldn't be upset about either outcome.

[Beef Supreme]

1 hour ago, Moose Milligan said:

It'd make life easier.

You don't see the NFC not having field goal kickers and being awarded 7 points for a touchdown while the AFC still has to kick the PAT, right?  Sports should have the same rules across all leagues/divisions.  Being quirky when it comes to rules isn't really something to be proud of.

Football is not baseball. Every time these poor comparisons are attempted, I cringe. And this comparison is really out there.

No offense, Moose.

[Moose Milligan]

8 minutes ago, Mr. Chewbacca Jr. said:

By that logic, the dimensions of each baseball field should be exactly the same.

I like the differences between the leagues. It is what makes baseball unique. I like the idea of pitchers hitting, but in today's game, I think it's run its course.  It's basically an automatic out at this point - and leads to some really unexciting baseball. Wouldn't be upset about either outcome.

That's why there are "ground rules" for each of the different parks.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground_rules

 

[Moose Milligan]

7 minutes ago, Beef Supreme said:

Football is not baseball. Every time these poor comparisons are attempted, I cringe. And this comparison is really out there.

No offense, Moose.

Keep cringing.  I mean, I could keep making offbeat comparisons between the two sports where the NFC could have, like, 5 downs but the AFC could have 4.  Or the NFC could kick through a wider field goal post.  Or the AFC could kick field goals from wider hashmarks like they do in college.  Or the NFC could play all season with 12 men but then play the superbowl with 11.  Maybe the AFC should just have 8 yards to gain for a first down while the NFC sticks to 10.  Wouldn't football be a much better sport with the NFC/AFC having different standards and rules of play?

Maybe in the NBA Western Conference, the rim should be 10 feet, 5 inches off the ground while the Eastern Conference plays with a standard 10 foot rim.  And then when a Western Conference team plays an Eastern Conference team, whoever has the home court gets to play with their standard rim.  So for example if the Milwaukee Bucks (East) play the Lakers (West) at the Staples Center where the Lakers play their home games, they'd play on rims that are 10 feet, 5 inches.  But when the Lakers swing through Milwaukee, they're playing on 10 foot rims.  How's that for being quirky, different and unique?  

[24fps]

18 minutes ago, Mr. Chewbacca Jr. said:

I like the differences between the leagues. It is what makes baseball unique. I like the idea of pitchers hitting, but in today's game, I think it's run its course.  It's basically an automatic out at this point - and leads to some really unexciting baseball. Wouldn't be upset about either outcome.

My take as well, but I think the debate is over at this point.  I think we'll see universal DH within a couple of years at most.

[Mr. Chewbacca Jr.]

52 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

That's why there are "ground rules" for each of the different parks.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground_rules

 

Yes - different rules for different parks...

[Moose Milligan]

2 minutes ago, Mr. Chewbacca Jr. said:

Yes - different rules for different parks...

Right, but unilateral rules for the way the game is played on the field, with the exception of the DH.