Chicago Cubs offense should be replaced with designated hitter

After seeing the universal designated hitter in action in 2020, the general consensus seems to be that no one wants to watch pitchers hit. With the rare exception of Shohei Ohtani, a pitcher’s plate appearance is usually completely boring, typically ending in a bunt or a strikeout. Yes, Madison Bumgarner or Zack Greinke may be able to put one over the fence, but good hitting pitchers are few and far between.

For all of the hubbub about ending the exercise in futility known as pitchers hitting, nothing has been said about the Chicago Cubs. It may be early, but the Cubs offense has been outright offensive.

Ban the Chicago Cubs offense!

So based on the logic that pitchers cannot hit, and therefore the designated hitter must be instituted throughout the game to make it more entertaining, Major League Baseball should do the same with the Cubs. Just give the Cubs eight DH slots and let their pitchers hit!

Obviously, that’s not going to happen. The Cubs offense will not be this bad all season, especially given the talent in the lineup. Eric Sogard will not be the team’s best hitter in another week. Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo, Javier Baez, and the rest of the lineup will break out of their malaise. It will eventually happen.

And there are signs that it is starting to. Joc Pederson hit a home run. Willson Contreras may take his anger with being hit so often by the Brewers out on everything in his path. There is far too much talent on the Cubs roster for their lineup to perform worse at the plate than a bunch of pitchers.

This is what happens with a small sample size. Teams can go into a horrendous slump, just as the Cubs did to start the season. Fans will overreact, especially when one sees how poorly those numbers are. Hitting worse than the pitchers in the game will certainly cause that type of reaction.

The Chicago Cubs offense will get on track and look like the team they had once been. If not, maybe they should just try hitting nine pitchers.