NL DH in 2021?

[RollieTime]

I don’t think filling the DH spot would be too difficult. You retain someone like Thames (if it were implemented this year) and you got your 30 homer guy right there. Not saying he’s a DH only guy, but it’s an example to show how it could be filled pretty easily. Even if it were to be implemented right now for the 2020 season, it wouldn’t be hard to find a halfway decent player to sign that you could just plug into the bottom third of the lineup and be a decent hitter. Sign someone like Wilmer Flores or Brian Dozier or Kevin Pillar tomorrow for $5 million or less and we would be just fine.

[TJseven7]

From a strategy stand point this is a shame. Otherwise I don't see the small market complaints. You can make those same complaints about everything in baseball and DS has done very well filling in 1b with scraps. DH will be another quality producer that he finds off the WW like Aguilar or on the FA market like Smoak and Thames. It'll be fine. The dumb teams will see older players and go, well when they age out of their position we can DH them, and they'll watch as the guy falls off a cliff as a hitter as well. They'll fall for that false security, cap their teams on old has-beens and MKE will be just fine.

 

It'll be a great way to hide Hiura's defense without taking him out of the lineup. Swap him from 2B to DH after the 6th at home and after the top of the 7th on the road.

 

I believe a DH can only be substituted for by a player NOT in the current lineup. Plus the pitcher would have to bat or a PH used when the pitcher's spot came up.

 

So you can't have Hiura playing 2nd and batting 3rd and say Braun at DH batting 6th. Then sub in Urias for the DH batting 6th and play him at 2nd? Putting Hiura still batting 3rd at DH?

 

You can't do that?

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

If the DH plays the field at any point, you lose the DH for that game. This happens every once in a while in an AL game, or at least it used to before positional flexibility became a bigger thing. I remember for example Joe Mauer DHing back when he was a catcher. The backup catcher got hurt, and Mauer had to play the field. The pitcher then had to be inserted into the lineup in the spot vacated by the catcher.

 

So, in the above scenario, Urias couldn't play the field after PHing for Braun. He would have to remain the DH.

[Roderick]

It's inevitable but I don't like it. Seems like it's bad for smaller market teams overall. It's sort of an equalizer forcing the pitcher to bat, but if you remove that from the equation it's just another spot where the richest teams can fork out cash to create a large gap between their DH and say, the Brewers DH.

 

Maybe someone can point out that's not true, but that's how it seems. I wish they had to bat in both leagues, but I know this is a matter of when, not if.

 

However now the AL teams have an advantage over the NL teams in that they can go after free agents that people know at their end of their contract will be DHs only. So, I would rather there be no DH in either league (as a small market team), but that isn't happening - so I am okay with the DH coming.

[MrTPlush]

It helps big markets more than a small market, I don't really see much debate there. Is it overblown? Well, that's certainly an argument. Most teams don't trot out full time DHs with bigger contracts...this may be true to some extent, but some do. It also is a huge benefit for teams signing players to huge contracts. When their defense declines to liability levels they can DH. This isn't a benefit we will see because we can't even afford such contracts where that would effect us. It is also another position we have to spend money on. For a small market an added expense of $5-$10mil is a huge deal. To the big markets its pretty much irrelevant.

 

It is inevitable so I really don't lose much sleep over that or the fact I like pitchers hitting. Just get it over with and implement it. One thing I will say is I really don't like immediate implementation. They should have made it known if they would ever change it that it wouldn't be effective immediately. Now you have teams making moves or not making moves due to the potential of it happening in 2021. Every team should have a few years to plan after it is finalized. To me that is a pretty drastic change that should give teams time to react to.

[THarper3030]

While I'm not in favor of the DH It would be easier for me to accept if the DH had to bat in the #9 position. I just picture David Otiz for example going to the air conditioned/heated club house between at bats possibly working on his swing instead of standing in the 90 degree sun/30 degree wind chill playing defense for 3 hours, and I shake my head.

 

Their needs to be one set of rules.

 

One thing to note is that #9 hitters suck. Only 4 teams had an OPS above .700 in the 9-spot last year. The reality is that the DH would replace a .550 OPS spot (starting pitcher+pinch hitters) with a .650 OPS (worst hitter in lineup). It's not that much of an improvement.

 

One thing is that the Brewers could have held onto Domingo Santana which would have been immensely useful in 2019.

 

There was Dale Sveum in 1987 batting 9th with 25 HR's, but he was likely an exception.

 

If the point of the DH is to add offense then lets go all in. Have a 28 man roster with maximum 3 DH's and 3 full time defenders and a minimum 6 who play both ways in the lineup.

 

One DH for the pitcher and one defender each assigned to the other DH's. Imagine the lineups...... I'd hate to be a pitcher.

[Dragonbait]

I like having the pitcher hit... you get moments like Gallardo's 1-0 game where his home run was the only run.

 

Or Suter's HR game against 'whats his name' from the Indians.

 

Or even Woody in the playoffs...

 

add the DH, and you dont have those moments.

[Ennder]

 

If the point of the DH is to add offense then lets go all in. Have a 28 man roster with maximum 3 DH's and 3 full time defenders and a minimum 6 who play both ways in the lineup.

 

One DH for the pitcher and one defender each assigned to the other DH's. Imagine the lineups...... I'd hate to be a pitcher.

 

The point of the DH in today's game is to protect the pitcher and give the fans a more entertaining at bat. I don't think it is really just about adding offense. Protecting the pitcher is the biggest part of it.

 

I would think of any NL fanbase ours is the one that would want the DH most. We moved from the AL so a lot of people were already used to it. Two of the best young SP we have developed had their careers derailed by getting hurt during the process of running the bases, both in seasons where we could have really used them in the post season. For a franchise that hasn't been great at developing pitching that is a huge deal.

[pacopete4]

I'm glad they are going this route. I used to be a Never DH'er but because 99% of pitchers have lost interest in the craft of bunting and hitting, or hell, even base running... it is time to move on and abolish pitchers hitting. If a pitcher like MadBum wants to hit, then you can DH some games.

[et bbal]

Personally, I see no reason to go to 26 man rosters if the dh is going to be implemented. The vast majority of substitutions involve pinch hitting for the pitchers spot. Are there others sure, but they can be covered with a 25 man roster.

Having said that, one way I could see it benefit smaller market teams is it might make it easier to platoon at multiple positions. A team might get good production from a position with 2 moderate salaried players vs. 1 "star". Take 13 position players - 8 starters leaves 5 position players on the bench. Assuming you want to keep someone on the bench in case of injury that leaves 4 players, or four positions you could be platooning.Maybe, even 5 positions if you remove the in case of injury scenario. Not as sexy, but perhaps as productive.

[benji]

The DH to the NL is coming but my suspicion is that it will be 2022. They will make part of the new CBA arguing it will help player salaries.

 

 

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[Ennder]

So I just watched a bit on MLB network about this and Tom Verducci said that NL baseball is how the game was meant to be played. I hate dumb stuff like this. In original baseball the starting pitcher pretty much always pitched 9 innings. We no longer have original baseball. In original baseball the pitcher just lobbed the ball in and tried to get people to put it in play. In original baseball the fielders didn't have gloves. In original baseball there were no walls so a really hard hit double was a home run. Original baseball has nothing at all to do with the DH rule and whether it should exist or not.

[RightFieldCoder]

I don't get why baseball doesn't copy football and have a nine man patting lineup and a nine man defensive lineup. There's no reason that eight players have to be on both. Let each team decide it's best hitters and best defenders.

[Oxy]

I don't get why baseball doesn't copy football and have a nine man patting lineup and a nine man defensive lineup. There's no reason that eight players have to be on both. Let each team decide it's best hitters and best defenders.

 

I think the NFL would be more interesting if they went back to the old college football rules from the 50s. Gotta play 2 ways with maybe an exception here or there.

[pacopete4]

I don't get why baseball doesn't copy football and have a nine man patting lineup and a nine man defensive lineup. There's no reason that eight players have to be on both. Let each team decide it's best hitters and best defenders.

 

I think the NFL would be more interesting if they went back to the old college football rules from the 50s. Gotta play 2 ways with maybe an exception here or there.

 

I would have loved to see Favre play safety back in the day.

[ThisIsMyCrew]

https://m.facebook.com/watch/?v=451560872035960&_rdr

 

Probably could’ve stopped the run game a bit better vs the niners