I recently heard an interview with MLB commisioner Rob Manfred and it sounds like the annual debate on the DH and interleague rules is in full swing. The options are...

A) leave it as is (DH in AL only, home field rules)
B) Use or don't use DH in all interleague games
C) Abolish the DH all together
D) Permanently add the DH to the NL

As I was listening to it, an idea popped into my head. What would you think of a 10-batter lineup which included both the pitcher AND an EH (extra hitter) instead of a DH? It means teams can still employ heavy hitters who can't field as everyday players while still making every fielder (including the pitcher) get up to bat.

Pros:
- It's a compromise/combination of both league's ways of doing things.
- Star players could take fewer games off, just be the DH for a day to have an lighter day

Cons:
- Star players will get up to bat less often. In 2016, George Springer played 162 games and had 744 plate appearances (4.59 PA per game). With a 10-man lineup, he would have had an estimated 670 PA (4.14 PA per game). Ortiz had 626 PA in 151 games (4.15 PA per game), and with 10-men would have had 563 (3.73 per game).

2/8/2017 5:29:31 PM

a 10-man lineup completely throws off the math of the game. Your pitcher has three consecutive 3-up 3-down innings and in the top of the 4th they face someone new? I think option A) is fine since neither league is going to want to compromise.

2/8/2017 5:35:24 PM

On one hand, I enjoy pitchers hitting.

On the other, my favorite player of all time would not have been a first ballot hall of famer without the DH (Frank Thomas, the second best hitter of all time).

So my solution is this: leave it the way it is, except get rid of fucking interleague play.

[Edited on February 8, 2017 at 6:01 PM. Reason : Also, get off my lawn]

2/8/2017 6:00:38 PM

I love the Big Hurt as much as anyone who grew up in that 90s era, but Thomas isn't the 2nd best hitter of all time. Ruth, Bonds, Williams, Hank were all better without giving it much thought.

Also they don't need to change anything with the DH. Players union won't allow them to abolish it and the purists won't let it happen in the NL. Just leave interleague rules as they are.

2/8/2017 6:14:47 PM

i don't like the DH. i'm also a fan of an NL team. so, like most NL fans, that's probably the main reason i fall on that side of the debate...which i realize isn't a great reason. i think it's kinda dumb to have two leagues within the same sport playing with different rules...it's truly bizarre and hard to justify, IMO. i think you've got 9 players in the field, it only makes sense if those are your 9 batters as well.

with that said, i think they'll probably just leave it like it is.

i don't like that 10th batter idea for the reasons TT10 said. it throws off the symmetry...9 innings, 9 batters, 3 outs per inning, etc.

2/8/2017 6:15:35 PM

Quote :

"Frank Thomas, the second best hitter of all time"

IMO ... your opinion is wrong , not even of the 90's (gwynn, larry walker)

2/8/2017 6:20:20 PM

Quote :

"a 10-man lineup completely throws off the math of the game. Your pitcher has three consecutive 3-up 3-down innings and in the top of the 4th they face someone new? "

I thought about that too, but then I remembered that a single hit messes up the symmetry anyway. So except in no-hitters, the math doesn't actually stay consistent throughout the game.

2/8/2017 8:58:58 PM

Baseball has moved on from this discussion. Now they are just giving people baserunners. Maybe. Possibly. Someday.

http://deadspin.com/report-mlb-to-experiment-with-starting-extra-innings-w-1792152486

2/8/2017 10:01:57 PM

^I read that the World Baseball Classic will be doing that, but only starting in the 11th inning. I get that they want extra-innings games to end sooner, but starting with 2 baserunners seems silly.

2/9/2017 2:12:51 AM

The baserunners in extra innings is an IBAF (international rules baseball) rule that the WBC adopted. Reason is international baseball is always in a tournament format and the players and coaches in the next game don't want to sit and see Panama and Italy bat out the 15th.

Call me a traditionalist, the pitcher should bat. It speeds up the game (stats show this and speeding up the game is an MLB initiative at the moment), the guy playing DH is getting paid the same as starting fielders when his game time is about 5 minutes, there is more strategy involved for an NL manager, and it acts as a barrier to pitchers intentionally beaning guys when they have to bat too.

2/9/2017 8:23:39 AM

[Edited on February 9, 2017 at 9:20 AM. Reason : X]

2/9/2017 9:17:46 AM

just get rid of it. allows players to be one dimensional.

2/9/2017 9:34:27 AM