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MLB all-time: Top 10 Greatest DH Seasons of All Time, Part 1

By Manny Gómez

BOSTON - SEPTEMBER 9: Boston Red Sox player J.D. Martinez reacts after lining out against the Astros during the seventh inning. The Boston Red Sox host the Houston Astros in a regular season MLB baseball game at Fenway Park in Boston on Sep. 9, 2018. (Photo by Jessica Rinaldi/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
BOSTON - SEPTEMBER 9: Boston Red Sox player J.D. Martinez reacts after lining out against the Astros during the seventh inning. The Boston Red Sox host the Houston Astros in a regular season MLB baseball game at Fenway Park in Boston on Sep. 9, 2018. (Photo by Jessica Rinaldi/The Boston Globe via Getty Images) /
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FT. MYERS, FL – MARCH 2: J.D. Marrtinez #28 of the Boston Red Sox talks with former designated hitter David Orrtiz during a team workout on March 2, 2018 at Fenway South in Fort Myers, Florida . (Photo by Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images) /

After J.D. Martinez made MLB all-time history by winning the Silver Slugger Award as both a DH and an OF, I began to wonder: Was J.D. Martinez’s 2018 season the greatest single season a DH has ever had? The answer might surprise you.

In order to best evaluate who had the greatest MLB all-time season for a Designated Hitter (DH), I’ve broken down the position into SIX categories:

  1. Must have been DH 51% of games that season
  2. Ability to get on base – On Base Percentage (OBP)
  3. Ability to hit for power – Slugging Percentage (SLG)
  4. Ability to score runs – Runs Scored (RS)
  5. Ability to create runs – Weighted Runs Created Plus (WRC+)
  6. Value in wins – FanGraphs Wins Above Replacement (fWAR)

I chose these categories because a designated hitter’s primary job is simply to hit. Therefore, it seems only fair to judge his ability to get on base and his ability to hit for extra bases, thereby creating and scoring runs. fWAR is used primarily as a tiebreaker.

Then, I determined who had the top 10 seasons for a DH since 1973, the year the DH was introduced into baseball.

Now, before the comments reign down on me, let me explain a couple of things. First, In the interest of consistency, I only used FanGraphs to collect each player’s stats. I then transferred this information into a spreadsheet, where I issued each players individual stats a score. Finally, I added up each score and sorted the spread sheet based on total score.

Without further ado, these are the 10th – 6th greatest DH seasons of all time… according to me.

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