MLB's Latest Idea About How to Keep the Universal DH Actually Might Not Suck
If the only thing I received for Christmas was an announcement that the designated hitter will remain in place in the National League forever, I would be perfectly content. It's all I want. And while it looked like the hope for that happening was likely dead — at least for 2021 — it sounds like MLB is still discussing ways it could make that happen.
And as much as I am generally predisposed to hate every idea put forth by Rob Manfred and his minions, I must say this isn't the worst idea I've ever heard. While it does still include at least an element of the stupidity we've come to expect from Major League Baseball, it's better than nothing. And we can even bring back some of the "strategy" the olds love so much.
While it does seem a bit ridiculous to have your DH pulled from the game in the second inning on any given night your starting pitcher is off, the nights where you'd get to have him for seven innings is much better than nothing. I will gladly take three ABs from Marcell Ozuna and one from a pinch hitter over having to watch Mike Soroka hit with a surgically repaired Achilles.
It's insane that we're still debating whether to go back to watching pitchers hit — in only half of baseball, at that. There are maybe five of them in the entire sport who are even respectable at it. We want dudes like Ozuna who will go up there and hit dingers like God intended.
So if we have to settle for this rather than getting rid of it entirely for this season, I'm in. But come 2022, I want this resolved forever, because nobody wants to see pitchers swing the bat.