With pitchers hitting once again in the NL in 2021, MLB would do well to consider three radical fixes for the NL DH problem.
After a one-year blip, MLB is being played under two sets of rules again when it comes to the DH.
Designated hitters are once more limited to an American League phenomena, and pitchers are batting again in the NL. As a baseball traditionalist that grew up rooting for an NL team I couldn’t be more thrilled.
That being said, that’s also a position that probably has you wondering how often I update my sweater vest collection, or whether I had to ask one of my grandchildren to log me into the site this morning.
Certainly, it looks like the universal DH is coming to MLB for good. Earlier this offseason, I wrote about 2021 being more of a farewell tour for NL play than a return to normalcy. It won’t be long before kids just growing up with the game now will view 2021 as the blip, not 2020.
However, it’s a long road between here and the resolution of next offseason’s bitter, protracted, and sure-to-be public brawl between MLB and the MLBPA as they negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement. Some outside-the-box thinking is going to be required for both sides to get what they want. Likewise, more work needs to be done to advance MLB commissioner Rob Manfred’s dream of making everyone a baseball fan.
Tweaking the rules surrounding the use of the DH in the NL seems like a good place to start.
What follows are three radical fixes MLB should consider for solving the designated hitter dilemma. To be clear, none of these are solutions I expect to see implemented. But these are tweaks that would certainly spark my interest, and more than a few furious debates amongst baseball fans.
If baseball wants to be more interesting than other sports leagues, here are three ways to do it.
How to fix MLB designated hitter rule: 1) Tie the DH to the pitcher
Before getting to the first solution MLB can adopt for the NL DH problem, let’s take a moment to acknowledge why this is still even an issue:
Money.
NL owners don’t want the DH because it is one more expensive position they will have to pay for. That’s pretty much it. As much as I would like to pretend it’s because the majority of NL owners have a deep love and appreciation for the strategy of when to lift a pitcher for a pinch-hitter, and like me find double switches exciting. It’s just a money thing.
When every NL team save for the NL champion needs a DH no more than eight times per season, you can justify just using the spot on to get some extra at-bats for your worst bench player. When there’s a DH every day, it’s fair for fans to ask why the organization isn’t paying for a Giancarlo Stanton caliber bat.
All players and most fans want the universal DH. The jury is out if even half of NL owners do.
So to get the ball rolling, why not tie the DH to the starting pitcher?
As long as the starting pitcher is chugging along, whoever started the game as DH gets to stay in the game. But once that starter is lifted, be it after one inning or eight innings, that particular DH is done for the day as well.
At that point, both a new pitcher and a new DH enter the game. And so the cycle repeats.
Players are happier because that pretty much ensures the starting pitcher will never have to bat again, though I suppose the Diamondbacks could always decide to have Madison Bumgarner be a pinch hitter again. The MLBPA is happy because that opens up 15 new jobs. NL owners are happy because they’ll be able to justify paying slightly less for their DH than AL clubs do.
This move would also keep a bit of NL-style strategy alive, as managers would have some room for creativity with those remaining DH spots. Would the remaining 2-3 DH spots just be treated the same as traditional pinch hitters would? Or would managers perhaps opt to start piggybacking pitchers more, so that they only need to make one change at DH? This would serve to both manage innings and maximize the talent level of the bat that stays in the lineup.
And as it would mean at least one less pitching change, pace of play picks up a bit.
So to recap: this rule change protects the most valuable pitchers from injuries suffered while batting and baserunning, improves pace of play, keeps the two leagues distinct, creates 15 higher-paying jobs for the players, and doesn’t significantly eliminate the value of those NL bench jobs that currently exist.
Sounds like a win for all concerned. But if that’s not your particular cup of tea, how about…