MLB: Designated Hitter Options for the NL West
By Mark Howe
The Colorado Rockies need to get Ben Paulsen’s bat in the lineup every single day. Much sooner rather than later.
It would be sad to make him wait until the designated hitter comes to the National League, because he could certainly make a difference in Denver. He might be one of the better hitters hardly anyone’s ever heard of. He hit .277 last season, with 11 home runs in 325 at-bats, so over a full season that translates very, very well.
Truth be told, the Rockies are another NL team that could DH by committee; DJ LeMahieu, Mark Reynolds, and Gerardo Parra could all handle the role, and it wouldn’t be a crime to give Carlos Gonzalez, the only Colorado player pulling down eight digits annually, an occasional semi-day off by letting him DH. He’d still sell tickets in Denver and across the league.
Then again, if there’s one team that ought to oppose the DH in the NL, it might be Colorado. Having Rockies pitchers, historically a group who aren’t getting much attention from fantasy baseball owners, a chance to get out of a lot of innings by facing the opposing pitcher or forcing the opposition to go to its bench early.
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