The global pandemic caused the 2020 MLB season to be one of the most unique in recent history. One of the major updates, which has been a topic of discussion for many years now is the idea of a universal DH. Both the American and National league had the opportunity to use a DH in the shortened season. The American league has had the DH since 1973 and has simply surpassed the National league in views and entertainment value. Having the DH simply makes the game more enjoyable for fans as well as players. There are many positives that factor into the use of a universal DH. First of all pitchers are paid to do exactly what their job is and that is to pitch. Why should pitchers have to get in the batter's box and risk the chance of being injured? If you're a GM and have a star pitcher that you invested millions and millions of dollars in, why should you want them hitting? The answer is simple and they shouldn’t. The idea of having pitchers hit is outdated and doesn’t fit the new school generation of baseball. We have seen countless times pitchers being injured in the batter's box and running the bases. In an era of baseball where we see pitchers getting hurt more often it is important to protect our star players and have them do what they do best. There have been a handful of pitchers that have gotten injured while running the bases and just simply were not the same on the mound after that. Chien-Ming Wang is a notable pitcher that had his career practically ended due to an injury while running the bases back in 2008.
Having a universal DH opens up opportunities for positionless players to have a chance to be in a starting lineup. It creates more creativeness from teams based on matchups and it makes the game much more competitive. Pitchers
hit for an average of .133 in 2019, which is absolutely brutal and just not fun to watch. They are basically a free out, especially with the decrease of bunting league wide. By adding the DH to the National league many players become much more valuable to their teams. Players such as Kyle Schwarber, Marcell Ozuna, Adam Duvall, Daniel Murphy, and Max Muncy who all are below average in the field extremely benefit from adding the DH to the National league. These guys are stud hitters that simply do not have a position in the field.
Not for nothing when you tune in to watch the World series and you have a matchup of two good pitchers face off on the mound are you excited to watch them in the batter's box? Absolutely not. The DH would play a massive role in the strategy of teams in highly competitive games such as the World Series. Teams want to throw out their best nine guys in your lineup. The ability to have a DH in this type of series truly shows which team is deeper and it allows games to be much more entertaining for fans. Imagine watching Jacob deGrom in game 7 of the world series and he gets up to plate in the second inning and gets drilled by a fastball and misses the rest of the game. What a disappointment that would be for the baseball world. It takes the competitiveness of this game away.
There is hope around the league that the universal DH will be implemented in the 2021 season, but Major League Baseball recently told clubs to operate under the assumption that there will not be a universal DH. This impacts the free agent market tremendously as we see guys such as Nelson Cruz, Marcell Ozuna, and Michael Brantley who would benefit from more time at the DH position. This would limit National league teams from engaging in contract talks with these players. Baseball and the fans need to make the game more fun and if MLB wants to boost ratings they must implement the universal DH. Let's figure it out Manfred and do the right thing for baseball for once.
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