Some people are blown away by elite intellectual strategic thinking necessary to execute a double switch. Like every time a NL manager does it the announcers act like no one has ever thought of that before. “Oooh a cunning move here by Clint Hurdle!”
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I wish the pitchers didn’t suck so much at hitting that we need someone to hit for them
One upside to this is when a fat flailing SP hits a homerun its like the highlight of the game if not week.
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This. I don’t pretend the double-switch is some brilliant chess move, but I just like there to be different factors to think about in evaluating pitchers, having your starter’s bat be an X factor in certain games, etc. Plus it just fucking makes sense that you have 9 players in the field and those are the dudes that go to the plate. And I’m saying this as the lifelong fan of an AL team.
When I was a kid 95% of shortstops couldn’t hit at all either. Its not like you can’t develop pitchers that can hit.
I’d rather pitchers focus on pitching and not hitting. Any time spent on hitting is time away from pitching.
I remember when the Yankees won the World Series in 1996, sports writers were gushing about the fact that Joe Torre had experience as a NL manager. Had nothing to do with having 10 All Stars/Hall of Famers on the team. Nope, no sir.
Why is pitcher special though? Why not a full offense and defensive unit, like football?
Baseball is better by forcing everyone to be a two-way player.
Plus if anyone deserves a DH it’s the catchers who absolutely abuse their knees and could use a full break between defensive half innings.
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Because hitting a baseball is really fucking hard. If they could hit, they would be hitters, not pitchers. They are completely different skill sets.
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Probably the most fun thing about baseball culture is it’s just chock full of transparently stupid contradictions. Like in the 1980s and 1990s pitchers were considered frail enough that you had to bundle them up in a nice cardigan and jacket if they ended up on base, lest they catch cold from being exposed to the elements for 4 minutes. Simultaneously if you took your pitcher out before he threw 150 pitches that’s coddling them and the pitcher was considered a bitch if he didn’t visibly protest the manager at the mound.
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The fact that many pitchers can somehow hit decently suggests that its not a totally distinct skill set. No one is asking pitchers to hit cleanup, but its surprising that the distribution of pitcher OPS doesnt have at least a tail in the “respectable” range.
In the same way though fielding is a completely different skill than hitting. If we DH’d for all hitters, you could have said the same thing about any SS - if they could hit they’d be a DH rather than a SS.
I’m sure there are tons of guys that would be elite fielders but can’t hit a lick. Some of these were good enough to make the bigs (e.g. Adam Everett) but most are stuck in the minors. Why not give them a chance to play?
Treating it like football and having strictly one-way players would actually be kind of interesting. Most teams could have a truly elite defense out there at all times, and not a totally transformed offense but a significantly improved one from the way lineups are built now (You would probably do just fine looking at everybody’s OPS and just throwing them out there in descending order). I’d be curious to see how those two things balanced against each other would affect scoring overall.
The NL DH thing doesn’t bother me much. We see that in the World Series every year anyway. But putting a man on second in extra innings is beyond bad. Theoretically, a pitcher can throw a 10 inning perfect game and lose. And is there a stat for these extra runners? It skews the box scores when there’s somebody on base for no reason.
The three batter rule for pitchers is awful too. It takes strategic moves out of the hands of the managers. It’s not like MLB is going to attract younger fans with these rule changes. All they’re doing is alienating the ones they already have. I’m surprised Rob Manfred hasn’t been offered a job in the Trump Administration. He fits all the incompetent standards.
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Baseball is going to be baseball whether the DH in the National League passes or not.
It won’t change the game that much.
That being said I like the pitchers hitting. It does force you to make tougher roster decisions and in game decisions.
I think the main reason I prefer pitchers hitting is it speeds up the game some because they’re usually hacking away into a SO or bunting.
First: fuck the DH.
If they went to pure offense/defense squads, why not a rule you can send any batter up you want. Like, the next Barry Bonds bats every time he’s not on base.
Having an 8 person batting order would be better than the DH too… more PA by the marque players, less PA by washed up DH-types. Also a team should be able to skip (or DH) any one defensive position, not always be forced to skip (or DH) the P.
So… are they ready for the first Grapefruit League game since 3-12, which according to mlb.tv is… Saturday 12:05 PDT Phillies @Nationals ???/?
ETA: corrected day to Saturday.
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Boo. Washed up DH types are awesome. 38 year old future HOFs batting .247 with 24 HR are essential to baseball.
Pro sports are fundamentally an entertainment industry. Decisions about rules are primarily about attracting eyeballs. Pitching dominates in baseball. It’s a fact of life. If you can throw 95+ MPH with dominant command and a couple other pitches, you are going to own. NL teams have made the correct decision that it’s better to have a dominant pitcher that can’t hit than it is to have a lesser pitcher that can get to the Mendoza line.
Pro sports are about watching the best athletes in the world at the top of their craft. I don’t want to watch pitchers get thrown out there as fodder. Yes, the strategy around it adds an element to the game. But for more casual fans, (you die hards are going to watch anyways) we want to see slow fat guys crush some dingers. Not some shlub with a .137 average flail at curveballs. The DH is great.
I’m pretty sure every level of baseball from high school on up has a DH. At that level the pitcher isn’t necessarily your worst hitter. We would often DH for the left fielder or something. College has it, and has some of the weirdest rules around for it, google if you’re curious. I’m pretty sure every minor league level uses it. The NL is like the lone holdout. Also, what’s up with trying to preserve some illusion that these are separate leagues. This aint the 1930s anymore. It’s MLB. I want more interleague play.
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