Expansion of DH rule big change in baseball

Three or four hours before a National League baseball game, they would be cackling around the cage: pitchers from the home team, taking batting practice in an otherwise empty ballpark.

When they finally got to swing some lumber after the requisite bunting drills, it was easy to hear their oohs and aahs, hoots and hollers, boasting and bragging, teasing and laughing. And maybe even the occasional wager or two.

But that merry pursuit of a secondary skill is suddenly an endangered species in baseball. Under new rules for this abbreviated season delayed by the coronavirus, all games will include the designated hitter — knocking NL pitchers out of the batter’s box.

“Well, obviously my thoughts don’t really matter,” said a smiling Madison Bumgarner, the Arizona Diamondbacks newcomer who leads active pitchers with 19 career home runs. “I do what I’m told. I’ll sit there and pitch, and that’s it for now.

“I think that’s obviously where everybody wants the game to go, so it is what it is.”

Looking to protect pitchers and simplify roster construction in the middle of a pandemic, major league baseball players and owners agreed to expand the DH this year to the National League, a rule in place for American League clubs since 1973.

There’s no guarantee the change will stick beyond this abnormal season sheared to 60 games — but it might. And if not next year, it seems a universal DH is coming soon — and that would mean pitchers never hitting regularly again.

Decades of hot debate, decided just like that.

“I’m upset I can’t get a Silver Slugger,” joked San Diego Padres righthander Chris Paddack, who batted .119 as a rookie last season.

No more one-in-a-million surprises from seemingly helpless pitchers at the plate, including Bartolo Colon’s rousing home run in 2016 and Dae-sung Koo’s long double off Randy Johnson in 2005. Not in 2020, at least.

“I get it for this year, but I hope it doesn’t continue,” said Milwaukee Brewers starter Brandon Woodruff, a .267 batter last season who homered off Clayton Kershaw in the 2018 NL Championship Series. “I think that’s pretty much the consensus for all of our pitchers. We like to hit. It changes the game.”

Of course, for every Zack Greinke (.280, three homers, eight RBI last year), Adam Wainwright (10 career homers, 71 RBI) or German Marquez (.300 average in 2018), there are dozens of other pitchers who are completely overmatched with a bat in their hands.

So it’s no wonder there are legions of fans who would rather see a muscular DH taking dangerous cuts than an inexperienced starter flailing away or trying to bunt a runner over. For them, the new rule is a welcome relief that saves some embarrassment.

“I don’t have to (strike) out every time I go up there,” Washington Nationals pitcher Austin Voth said.

Curiously, the push away from pitchers hitting comes at a progressive time when creative teams seem more inclined to experiment with two-way players than in the past.

Designated hitter and starting pitcher Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels is the biggest such star. There’s also Brendan Mckay with the Tampa Bay Rays, reliever/outfielder Michael Lorenzen with the Cincinnati Reds, and more in the minor league pipeline.

If a player is talented enough to contribute on the mound and in the lineup, some clubs no longer want to stifle that spark and waste a potential opportunity simply out of skepticism or fear of injury.

“I’m going to miss it a lot,” Miami Marlins pitcher Pablo Lopez said. “I love taking batting practice and having that opportunity to be in the box and produce offensively. But it’s going to give you way more time to focus on your pitching.”

Accomplished starters including Wainwright, Masahiro Tanaka, Steven Wright, Carlos Zambrano and Chienming Wang have been among the pitchers injured while hitting or running the bases in recent years. That can infuriate the executives paying those pitchers and making plans based on their valuable arms, not their hitting ability.

Owners and general managers don’t want to put those pricey investments at risk doing something unfamiliar on the field.

“Who doesn’t want to watch nine real hitters get after it? I think it’ll be better for the game,” said Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Steven Brault, who batted .333 (14 for 42) with a homer last season.

“Do I want to hit? Of course, because I got a taste of it last year and now it’s gone, stripped from me. Unbelievable.”

Taking pitchers out of the lineup will alter strategy as well, drastically reducing sacrifice bunts, pinch hitters and double switches.

In theory, at least, the job of National League managers just got easier.

“There’s a lot less to think about with the DH,” Miami manager Don Mattingly said.

But even pitchers who struggle at the plate and see advantages to the new rule are fully aware of what’s lost.

“It’s good to have the DH, but I think I’m going to miss having fun with the guys in the cage,” Brewers right-hander Freddy Peralta said.