Universal DH in 2019

Enscheff said:
Nobody under the age of 40 wants to see a pitcher lay down a bunt or flail away miserably at the plate. It is not exciting to watch Glavine poke the ball 15' in front of the plate. It does not add "strategy" when bunting is the expected tactic for pitchers. If sending up a guy to PH in the 5th through 9th inning qualifies as "strategy" to you, then you're so mentally slow you won't be able to figure out how to watch baseball when it goes all streaming in 10 years anyways (as evidenced by all the bitching over FB Live games).

The number of grumpy old guys who stop watching baseball due to the DH will be far outweighed by the number of young people who tolerate watching a baseball game with every rule change that rids the game of some of its monotony. These rule changes are needed, and far overdue.

Forcing a pitcher to face 3 batters could be a minimal improvement on the pace of play problem. The "unless they are injured" loophole needs to be closed by forcing a pitcher removed from a game early to be placed on the DL, or it will just be abused. All these small pace of play improvements will add up to some time savings, but the main one continues to be time between pitches....the fault of both the batter and pitcher.
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I'm well under 40 and I much prefer games without DHs to those with them. Interleague play has allowed me enough time to see the team I really care about play with a DH and I prefer pitchers hit.

I like there being that question of whether you pinch hit for your pitcher in the 5th or let him bat and try to squeeze an extra inning out of him. I like the debate of whether you should pitch to an 8 hole hitter with 2 outs and so get the pitcher first the next inning or whether you should walk the hitter and end the inning by facing the pitcher.

Then there are those awesome moments when you walk a guy to get to the pitcher and the pitcher makes you pay by getting a hit and driving in runs.

I'm not going to say the DH ruins the game, I just prefer having those little aspects over having an extra bat.
 
striker42 said:
Then there are those awesome moments when you walk a guy to get to the pitcher and the pitcher makes you pay by getting a hit and driving in runs.
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Your 9th hitter is most likely going to be a glove-first no-bat guy, so you're still going to have that to some degree.
 
I just don't understand the universal DH. I thought Bud was the worst commish we would ever have just simply because of his role in the 1994 work stoppage, but it is clear RM doesn't really get it. At least Bud respected the game in his tenure.This is something that could end my interest in baseball. Never thought I would say that. Baseball just wasn't meant to be conveyor belts of hitters. Just leave the NL alone. Even people that support it can't back it up with solid reasons.
 
Enscheff said:
Roster construction is changing as a direct result of analytics.

Analytics told us that SPs face a severe penalty when facing a batter for the 3rd time, so more BP are used. More BP guys lead to more PH being used because analytics told us how important platoon advantages truly are.
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This is my minor beef with the new school. It's kind of funny how the third time through the line-up correlates with pitch counts, so there's really nothing new there. Elias used to publish a comprehensive book of statistical analysis back in the 1980s (I gave MadduxFanII all my editions) and they used to chart the BAA for every pitcher for < 30 pitches/30-60 pitches/and > 60 pitches. Rudimentary by today's standards, but I can't remember seeing a chart for a pitcher where the BAA got better as the pitch count increased.

Recognition of platoon advantages has been around since employed comprehensively by Casey Stengel in the 1950s. Granted, it is more universal now, but even the casual fan can discern which handed-hitters can't hit which handed-pitchers (and vice-versa). Crap, Bobby Cox was a strict platoon manager when he was with the Blue Jays (although that didn't carry over to the same extent when he came back to the Braves).

I think what has changed that I don't know can be laid at the feet of analytics and that is the reluctance of managers to allow relief pitchers to pitch more than an inning. To me, that is what has led to the proliferation of relief pitchers and the increased need for pinch-hitters more than anything else. I noticed last season that more managers were using relief pitchers for more than an inning and maybe that will lessen some bullpen reliance.

I do think that another element in all of this is player development. It seems (and I have nothing to back this up at all) is that they move players through systems so quickly that they aren't finished products when the hit the big leagues. That exposes some weaknesses at the big league level that might turn a lot of guys into part-time players or very isolated-use relief pitchers. I believe that is more prevalent among pitchers and has been covered by the "throw as hard as you can for as long as you can" school of thought. A little more tutelage may (and maybe not) help guys develop an "out pitch" that would reduce pitch counts. I'll admit this is all anecdotal, but maybe someone more adept at deep analysis can help me out (and probably prove me wrong).

Don't take this as a rip. I really respect the stats movement and it's opened up a lot of new ways of thinking and your contributions to the board are really valuable to me.
 
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50PoundHead said:
I'll admit I am a dinosaur, but there's no excuse for having the art of bunting disintegrate the way that it has.
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Buried in MLBTR today---

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said today at the owners’ meetings that the league is not interested in considering certain union-proposed changes in advance of the 2019 season, as Ronald Blum of the AP reports. In particular, Manfred indicated he is not open to the introduction of the designated hitter to the National League.
 
salmagundy said:
Buried in MLBTR today---

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said today at the owners’ meetings that the league is not interested in considering certain union-proposed changes in advance of the 2019 season, as Ronald Blum of the AP reports. In particular, Manfred indicated he is not open to the introduction of the designated hitter to the National League.
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Sounds like he doesn't want it added until at least the new CBA....I could see it making sense to put it off, giving the NL teams enough time to properly construct their roster.
 
Part of the charm in the game when I was young was the difference in the leauges. The DH, the two sets of umps, the mystique of the WS. The two very distinct different styles of play. It was just an all around better game and much more fun. There was pride in your league, with none of this I have two teams bullcrap. MLB should take note from NASCAR and stop making changes to the foundation of the sport. NASCAR has made foundational changes in the last 15 years and it is biting hard now. Instead of bringing more in it has played a role in driving people away.
 
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