MLB: A DH in the NL Would Take Away from the Art of the Game

The MLB provides a beautiful game, but putting the designated hitter in the National League would take away from the art of the game.

The war rages on, as the forces of good and the forces of evil continue to butt heads. At least, that’s what the “designated hitter in the National League” debate can feel like. Everyone has an opinion on the matter, but it mostly comes down to two main sides: “keep things the way they are!”; and “a change would make things better!”. What follows is my definitive opinion on the matter.

The National League brand of baseball, at times, boils down to an absolute chess match, a battle of wits between two managers. As the gears turn and the game unfolds, these managers, staked with the task of giving 25 talented individuals the best opportunity at victory that particular day, need to see five moves ahead to check their opponents.

“He’s pitching great, but the offense is stagnant. Should I pinch hit here in the sixth to try and score some runs? Will my stud reliever be okay to pitch a third straight day if I do pinch hit?”

“If I bring this pitcher in now, should I double switch to get an extra inning out of him? Would I lose offense with the defensive replacement?”

More from San Francisco Giants

These questions, questions with answers that change at every passing second, are just some of the ones that a manager for a National League team faces on a near-daily basis. Their American League counterparts don’t face these conundrums that leave a game in the balance. For the most part, their task is straight forward and laid out directly in front of them. That chess match, that battle of “don’t blink first” with a man in another dugout just feet away, doesn’t exist.

The American League lineup is set, and most nights, what you see in the first inning is what you get in the ninth inning. There is no pondering whether to use a pinch hitter in place of your starting pitcher, who has given up one run and two hits in seven innings, but still trails 1-0 because his offense can’t back him up. There is no perplexing double switch debate, wondering if you should double switch to get four outs from your best reliever who also pitched two innings two days ago. The AL version of the game is a more simplistic version of the game, like playing a baseball managerial video game set to medium difficulty.

Putting the designated hitter in the National League takes away that beautiful game within the game. The chess match that currently is NL baseball essentially becomes checkers. It goes from complex and thought-provoking to elementary and straightforward.

More from Golden Gate Sports

The biggest argument for using the designated hitter in both leagues has long been that pitchers can’t hit. While this, for the most part, is true, it is also the simple way of looking at it, the “checkers” point of view. Having the ninth spot in the batting order occupied by the starting pitcher is about so much more than just having a pitcher hit. One who thinks that is likely the same that thinks 1-0 pitchers duels are boring because there’s not enough offense, when in reality, those are the most exciting, exhilarating games.

While the league would essentially be punishing pitchers because they “can’t hit”, they would be, in a sense, rewarding players who can’t field. A player like Pedro Alvarez, who is so inadequate defensively that he can commit 23 errors in 124 games as a first baseman, is suddenly being handed a job that can cover his weakness with any team. While one group is being penalized for their deficiencies, another group is being rewarded for theirs.

Next: Giants Announce 2016 Non-Roster Invitees

The leagues as they are currently are great. Major League Baseball is the only major American sports league that provides a true homefield advantage in their championship series. In the World Series, the NL teams has to adopt a designated hitter when they play in the AL team’s park, while the AL team’s pitcher must bat in the NL team’s park. In no other sport does the trm “homefield advantage” ring so true, even though the way they get that advantage is rather ridiculous.

Managing National League baseball is an artform that few have mastered. Taking that away is the athlete’s equivalent of cutting funding for art classes in schools. Don’t take that paintbrush out of someone like Bruce Bochy‘s hand.

Home/San Francisco Giants