Why the Designated Hitter Should be Universal in MLB
- Scott Long
- Apr 9, 2020
- 3 min read
Scott Long
Who says baseball is a young man’s game?
In recent years older players have been pushed out of the league earlier and earlier as a result of the youth influx in the sport. Teams have begun drafting players straight out of high school with more regularity, and those young players have been making it to the big leagues faster than ever before. Players such as Bryce Harper, Juan Soto, Mike Trout, Ronald Acuna, Fernando Tatis Jr., and many more have come into the big leagues at 19 years old and excelled right away, making there less of a need for aging stars.
The majority of veteran position players who are still starting are playing at the designated hitter position. This position is built to be occupied by an aging star who no longer has the speed or athleticism to make a contribution with his glove, but still has good enough power or contact skills to make a manager want his bat to remain in the lineup. Players such as Nelson Cruz, among other players, represent perfect examples of players who are past their primes but still have elite power and above average contact, making it essential for managers to keep them in the lineup. For Ortiz. The American League possesses an advantage over the National League because they can keep players like this, while N.L. teams can’t without significantly affecting their defense.
The designated hitter position in baseball has been a widely debated issues since its introduction into the American league way back in 1973. Whether or not you agree with the designated hitter being a position in the major leagues, it’s pretty clear that the position isn’t going away. Players are already being paid as full-time designated hitters, so there is no way that the Player’s Association would agree to removing it as an official position, as this would take away one way for their players to make money for a longer period of time. Additionally, American League teams wouldn’t agree either because they’ve already tied money up to players as their designated hitters. Now if the position was removed, they would be stuck trying to find a position for a player who can’t play the field, likely forcing them into a spot where they would cause so many problems that their bat may not be worth the trouble. The perfect example of this would be Kyle Schwarber of the Chicago Cubs during the 2015 Playoffs. Schwarber was one of the teams most valuable bats throughout the regular season, but once the Postseason came around he became an extreme liability, making countless errors during the National League Championship Series against the Mets, and ultimately being a huge reason for their elimination from the playoffs.
The position should either be in both leagues or neither, but since the first will never happen, I believe that the position should be universal, meaning both the National League and American League should have it. The A.L. gets an advantage right now in signing hitters as a result of it, as they can sign a player to a longer-term deal than N.L. teams can without it hurting them as much towards the end of the contract. When the players are older and too slow to play the field, they can just focus solely on hitting as a D.H.. Not only will the designated hitter position open up flexibility and make it the same game in both leagues, but the Player’s Association would love it. This would be greatly beneficial to players because it will help prolong the careers of players, who are no longer good enough to play the field but can still hit, and thus will allow them to still get paid.
Also, some young players who aren’t good fielders, normally wouldn’t get a shot for the big leagues but now they can if they can hit. Players such as Miguel Andujar of the New York Yankees fit this mold as he struggles in the field and probably wouldn’t have gotten much more than a bench spot with the Yankees, but the D.H. gives him a place to play. Additionally, this makes the game more exciting for fans as pitchers are typically bad hitters so adding the designated hitter lengthens the lineup and makes it so that every at bat can be dangerous for the opposing team. Seeing a David Ortiz, Nelson Cruz or Edgar Martinez in the lineup is a lot more exciting for fans than watching Jon Lester, Jamie Moyer or Tom Glavine swing the bat.
Clearly, adopting the D.H. into the national league would be a perfect way to ensure these older players don’t get pushed out of the game while also helping out National League teams and making the game more exciting for fan. After all, baseball is becoming a young man’s game, but that doesn’t mean older players can’t still play too.
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