With a universal DH imminent in the future of MLB, pitchers ‘who rake’ continue to show strong protest against the rule change.
This week, several MLB pitchers made a case against the universal DH. It all began on Tuesday when San Francisco Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner stepped up to the plate against Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu; staring down a five-run deficit that he was primarily responsible for.
Bumgarner turned on 1-0 count and the ball flew off the bat into the left-field bleachers.
Just a few hours south in San Diego, Arizona Diamondbacks starter Zack Greinke was mere minutes away from hitting his second home run on the evening. The last pitcher to have a multi-home run game was… you guessed it: Bumgarner.
It was two years ago on opening day against… Greinke and the Diamondbacks.
Greinke spoke with Fox Sports Arizona’s Jody Jackson after the game:
"It was the first time I wanted anybody to talk to me all year. They gave me the silent treatment."-Zack Greinke after his 2-home run performance. pic.twitter.com/S8CVy1fp8s
— Bally Sports Arizona (@BALLYSPORTSAZ) April 3, 2019
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After Greinke and Bumgarner’s offensive contributions on Tuesday night and Jacob deGrom on Wednesday, National League pitchers have now hit six home runs between Jhoulys Chacin, Luke Weaver and the three aforementioned
While the excitement was certainly high for both pitchers and their teammates, talks of the universal DH continue to increase as Commissioner Rob Manfred’s tenure continues. So much that it just missed the recent rule changes that were implemented this year and the ones to be implemented next year.
There have been several opinions on the matter; the most unique being St. Louis Cardinals’ manager Mike Shildt’s response. The Athletic’s Jayson Stark asked Shildt about it during Spring Training:
Mike Shildt on whether he’s looking forward to the universal DH: “I’m looking forward to the American League adopting the National League rules. That would be so fun. I’m going to start a petition for that...Just a better game — plus our pitchers can hit.” pic.twitter.com/8IqODjwGoh
— Jayson Stark (@jaysonst) March 4, 2019
Let’s get the obvious thing out of the way.
Yes, having a designated hitter in your lineup is a huge advantage because it is another player trained to be a hitter and not necessarily the best fielder. Regardless, it is a true hitter.
What the universal DH would lack is those true moments of singularity that the baseball world witnessed Tuesday night. It rids of the opportunity to witness truly unique moments in history.
Even Greinke himself once said that there is a record broken every night in MLB if you look hard enough.
With the increase in StatCast and understanding launch angles and the new analytical approach to the game of baseball, perhaps even pitchers are taking advantage of this new knowledge from not just the mound, but the batter’s box as well. That means better contact, which leads to more hits, and eventually more dingers.
Baseball has such a deep history that every day is a new opportunity for a statistical feat to be achieved. Eliminating a pitcher’s ability to swing the bat eliminates that chance.