Adam Wainwright, one of Major League Baseball’s most dominant starting pitchers in recent history, recently suffered a torn Achilles tendon. The St. Louis Cardinals ace will likely miss the rest of the 2015 season due to the injury he sustained as he exited the batter’s box to run to first base.
Wainwright’s injury has once again ignited the discussion about whether or not the MLB should universalize the designated hitter.
After watching Wainwright’s injury, Washington Nationals starter and 2013 American League Cy Young award winner Max Scherzer spoke out, saying that the National League should adopt a designated hitter. He told CBS reporters that although he likes to swing the bat, he sees too many advantages to removing pitchers from the batting lineup.
I agree with Scherzer. I acknowledge that Wainwright’s injury is an anomaly and that pitchers are much more likely to get injured while on the mound than in the batter’s box. However, I believe it is time for the American League and National League to follow the same set of rules.
Since the Houston Astros moved to the AL West in 2013, interleague play is now commonplace throughout the season. As such, the presence of a DH in both the NL and AL makes perfect sense. The uniformity between the two leagues would be an excellent change for the MLB.
Although the National Football League is divided into both the American and National Football Conference (AFC and NFC), each Conference’s rulebook is identical. In fact, the MLB is the only professional league to have such drastically different rules between its two subdivisions.
The World Series would have a slightly more level playing field if a designated hitter were in place throughout the series — not just at the American League’s home games. This is not to say that the AL is at a disadvantage in the current system. It simply means that the presence of a DH in each league would provide a level of consistency the World Series has not seen since 1984. (On even number years from 1976 through 1984, the DH was used throughout the World Series, regardless of venue.)
Offense in the MLB is declining. In 2006, the league-wide batting average was .269. As of May 2014, the league’s average was .251 and had experienced a consistent downward trend each year during the period. And, although we are still very early in the 2015 season, the current league-wide batting average, as of Wednesday, is .249. This is the first time since 1972 that the league’s average is below .250.
Aside from just batting average, league-wide on-base percentage, slugging percentage and runs per game are significantly less than what they were in 2006. Each of these categories has seen a fairly steady decrease since 2006, and none show signs of stopping. Many baseball fans and critics say that the league’s diminishing offensive production poses a problem.
In an interview with CBS Sports, Scherzer said people don’t want to see him hit. He’s right — pitchers are terrible hitters. When considering the pitchers with the most hitting prowess, Zack Greinke of the Los Angeles Dodgers always comes to mind. Greinke’s lifetime average is .214. Yes, the batting average of one of the league’s best hitting pitchers is actually worse than Mario Mendoza’s career average (.215).
Baseball is a game of tradition. I am not so naïve to think that the DH will be adopted into the National League without resistance. In fact, many baseball fans would like to get rid of the designated hitter altogether.
The lack of a DH poses more of a strategic challenge than the presence of one. Use of bench players and bullpen pitchers, especially in double-switches, including a universal DH, would reduce the importance of “brain” and increase the significance of “brawn” in a game that currently requires a fluid mix of the two.
But the game is still changing, and it will continue to change. Ten years ago, who would’ve thought there would ever be an instant replay rule in baseball? Who would’ve thought that each manager would be granted the ability to challenge a call?
Baseball must adapt where necessary if it wants to maintain the level of prominence it has earned over its rich history. Game 1 of the 2014 World Series between the Kansas City Royals and the San Francisco Giants saw just 12.2 million viewers — a record low for World Series Game 1 viewership.
Including a DH in the National League will not instantly restore a .260 league batting average. It will not resonate well with baseball purists. And it will definitely not revamp baseball’s popularity to a level comparable to football.
It will, however, halt the league’s offense from decreasing any further. It will rewrite baseball’s history books. And it just might get some more people to watch baseball more often.
