FanPost

A Modest NL DH Proposal

Before we get started, I have to say that I'm a traditionalist. I prefer a National League without a DH, and frankly if I could make the league uniform, I would take the DH away from the American League. At the same time, I'm a realist. What I want is never going to happen, and it appears that one of the things I love most about National League baseball may be coming to an end soon.

So a DH is coming to the National League. If it's not 2019, it will be in a future year; perhaps after the CBA expires. The problem I have with this is the assumption that AL fans and NL fans can't both have what they want. We are approaching the the designated hitter question as if the way the American League does the designated hitter is the only way to do the designated hitter. It doesn't have to be this way. What if we got creative?

So here is my proposal for a Major League Baseball designated hitter. I think this proposal would solve many of the game's biggest questions today. (Unfortunately, it won't address shifts or free agent contracts, but I can't solve all the world's problems.)

My proposal is simply this: instead of a designated hitter taking the place of a position in the lineup, the designated hitter instead hits for a specific player.

For instance, in most cases in the American League, the DH hits for the pitcher. Whoever the pitcher is, the designated hitter is going to hit for that position on the diamond. In my proposal, I would have the designated hitter instead bat for the individual player occupying that position, and when that player exits the game (a starter being pulled, double switch, etc) the DH also has to exit the game.

I believe this retains the element of strategy that many National League fans appreciate about their game while also keeping the offense of the game going. After the DH exits, it becomes about pinch hitting just like in a National League game.

It also indirectly addresses the concerns that people have about an "opener" instead of a starting pitcher. If you go with a relief pitcher to start the game, and you pull him after one inning, your DH will only get to hit once (perhaps). There are some creative ways around this, but it allows another wrinkle in the game for managers to think through.

Imagine a game where a starting pitcher is getting knocked around, bases are loaded, and he only needs one out to get through the inning. The team's best hitter, the DH, is due up third the next inning. Do you pull the starter to keep things close, or do you let him fight through it, and let your DH hit one more time?

I think this is incredibly exciting to contemplate, and would make a game more interesting.

I would also expand rosters to 26 men to allow for managers to have the flexibility needed to utilize this strategy, and address the possibility that they could have to pull their starter and their DH in the 1st inning.

I'm not sure what to do with an injured starting pitcher. I would say the DH would need to be pulled as well since he's representing the individual at the plate. This could lead to some players being left in to tough it out so the DH could bat again, and that could get ugly.

So there it is. My modest DH proposal. I would welcome feedback and questions. Also, this is my first fan post ever, and my work week has been crazy, so forgive me if my writing hasn't been as clear as it could have been. Just ask me in the comments if something doesn't make sense.

This FanPost does not express the views or opinions of Battery Power.