MAKING PITCH FOR DH
DeGrom injury latest example of why NL hurlers shouldn’t hit
Two years ago Monday, Bartolo Colon went deep in San Diego, a seemingly impossible achievement Gary Cohen immediately dubbed on the Mets’ broadcast as “one of the great moments in the history of baseball.”
It really was, and is still awesomely unfathomable, in so many ways, to this day.
But Colon’s unexpected heroics also weren’t nearly enough to eliminate the need that still exists for the National League to finally adopt the designated hitter, a belief that only was underscored yet again last week when Mets ace Jacob deGrom was forced to leave a game — and ultimately landed on the disabled list on Sunday — after hyperextending his elbow on a missed swing at the plate.
Through Sunday, pitchers were batting a whopping .123 this season (117-for-954), with Mets hurlers only slightly better than that mark at .138 (9-for-65) with just one RBI (by deGrom) through 32 games.
Mickey Callaway even has suggested that he’d prefer deGrom — once he is activated, which the Mets have their fingers crossed will happen as early as Sunday in Philadelphia — essentially give away plate appearances and not even swing the bat for the foreseeable future to avoid the possibility of further injury.
“I haven’t been hitting the ball very well anyway, so, seriously, I’d rather be out there pitching,” deGrom joked before Sunday’s latest loss to Colorado. “If I can’t swing, that’s whatever. I’d much rather be out there to compete and keep us in the ballgame.”
That obviously should be the lone goal for any starting pitcher, prized commodities that teams are forced to invest so much in every year in terms of time and innings limits and, obviously, dollars. Why are we still putting them at any unnecessary risk if it’s at all avoidable?
Several prominent pitchers have suffered injuries while batting or running the bases in past years — ChienMing Wang with the Yankees and Adam Wainwright with the Cards immediately come to mind. And the MLB Players Association long has been in favor of expanding use of the DH, which has been employed in the American League since 1973, because it would translate into several more high-paying jobs. Cardinals president John Mozeliak recently told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch he believes “there is more momentum going into that (rules change) for the future,” but MLB commissioner Rob Manfred hasn’t publicly indicated any significant traction since the mostrecent CBA was ratified in Decemeber 2016 (running through the 2021 season). National League purists still point to the dumb argument that such a switch would eliminate much of the strategy from the game. Personally, I would rather see Gary Sanchez have an alternative way into the lineup on days he doesn’t catch than worry about whether the Mets are going to insert Juan Lagares or Jose Reyes into the latter innings of a game in a double switch just so they won’t have to pinch-hit for Hansel Robles. Clearly, baseball has shown a willingness to alter its longstanding traditions: adding more playoff rounds, video reviews, home-plate collision rules, pace-of-play changes, and more. I wrote last week about coming around on baseball’s need for implementation of strike-zone technology, but finally having universal rules concerning the DH is far more overdue.
Plenty of Mets fans got their wish with Harvey expunged from the organization, but that’s quite a troll job replacing him on the roster with Robles, who already has pointed skyward on a go-ahead home run.
l One more time, can we wait more than a dozen games next time before we breathlessly declare the Mets are “taking over the town” again from the Yankees?
l Maybe my favorite pinstriped headline suggestion over the weekend came from the News’ Julian Garcia, referring to Gleyber Torres as “Childish Bambino.”
l From the Twitter feed, the expansion Vegas Golden Knights won two playoff series in the first 25 days of the NHL playoffs. The Islanders have won one playoff series in 25 years.
How’s that evaluation period by ownership going, anyway?
l Also, what if I told you a few years ago that Harvey would win fewer games for the Mets (34) than Dillon Gee (40) or John Maine (39)?
l I’ve always been firmly in the Jordan camp on the GOAT argument, but LeBron is getting closer than ever with the best allaround play of his career during these playoffs, as if that even was possible.
No matter how much the King enjoyed working with Fizdale in Miami, the Knicks’ front office still probably should, you know, come up with a Plan B for this summer.