Walking the Plank: Leaning Towards Team #BanTheDH

If you would have asked me about a year ago If I wanted to #BanTheDH, I would have told you I was in full support of bringing the DH to the National League. Bringing the DH to the National League would definitely bring some more intrigue to baseball games as teams would be able to have better lineups night in and night out instead of a pitcher getting out 85% of the time they bat; however, there are many aspects of the game that I have come to appreciate more this year that makes me lean more towards banning the DH. Here are my reasons I am not in favor of the DH:

1. Pinch Hitting Situations

Imagine this scenario: It is the bottom of the 6th inning and you are the home teams manager; you are losing 1-0 and your starting pitcher has thrown 65 pitches and has only given up a HR as the only run; you have two outs with runners on 2nd and 3rd and the pitchers spot comes up, do you pinch hit or keep your pitcher in who has been pitching a great game? This scenario does not even account for the fact that your bullpen may be spent and you need your starter to go deep into the game. I love the tough decisions a manager has to make when it comes to pinch hitting and taking a pitcher out. Often, managers are either ridiculed or praised based off of the result of a pinch hitting situation. It makes the job of a manger so much harder instead of having a DH in there where no tough decision needs to be made. If you had a DH, it would be a no brainer to keep your pitcher in this situation, but not having the DH makes it more interesting. This scenario leads me into my next point of....

2. Bullpen Management

The job of a manager handling the bullpen is much more difficult when there is no DH. With a DH, you are able to have an extra bullpen arm since you do not need to have as many bench players to pinch hit; when you have more bullpen arms, you are not as worried about the fatigue of your bullpen. This scenario has made this Pirates season very interesting to see how Clint Hurdle manages the bullpen since they have been fatigued for many games due to overuse. 

3. "Hitting Specialists"

Whether you like it or not, part of baseball is being able to play defense. If a team has a very good hitter who cannot play good defense, they should have to live with that lack of defense in hope that their offense can pick them up. Gregory Polanco comes to mind here as he has been very productive at the plate, but his defense has hurt the team many teams. This makes games very interesting to see how managers and front office personnel handle these types of players; are they ok with their lack of defense as long as they hit or do they not accept these kind of players? Another aspect of the game that this influences is defensive switches; with a DH, you are less likely going to have to make a defensive switch because your best fielders are likely already out there. 

Overall, I do not have a hard stand on this, but I truly enjoy the decision making that goes into being a manager in the National League. Maybe NL managers should be paid more since they have to make more difficult decisions (interesting thought)? What are your thoughts on the use of the DH? Let us know and thanks for reading! 

-Aaron, TGYK