Justin Turner hit .387 as DH
In the previous article, I checked out the baseball reference website and tried to understand which National League teams led in DHs by different stats. National League teams use a DH when they play interleague games at American League ballparks. Thus, we saw interesting numbers and performances truly varied in the last 3 seasons. This time, I would like to use a different perspective.
Instead of top performance, let’s take a different view. Which NL teams’ DHs did not hit well?
Dodgers DHs finished last in OPS in 2017. In 2018, Nationals DHs had only .275 OPS. Brewers DHs’ OPS was only .396 in the last season. Those stats just didn’t look ok.
Batting average is easy to understand and fans are familiar with it. Let’s go straight and look at batting average in 2018 and 2019. Some NL teams’ DHs couldn’t even hit .200, the Mendoza line. We might think that these numbers were supposed to be from pitchers. But, they are not. In 2018, who used to hit as DH for the Washington Nationals? Matt Adams, Daniel Murphy, Bryce Harper and Adam Eaton.
Last season, the Brewers used 5 players as DH. They were Christian Yelich, Yasmani Grandal, Eric Thames, Ryan Braun and Mike Moustakas.
Padres and Nationals probably don’t want to remember how their DHs hit in the 2018 season. Each team’s DHs only collected 4 hits. Bryce Harper had 5 at-bats as DH in 2018, he didn’t have a hit and was struck out twice. Brewers DHs only had 5 hits last season.
Los Angeles Dodgers’ DHs did not hit any home runs at American League ballparks in 2017 and 2019. Braves DHs didn’t have any home runs at American League ballparks in 2017 and 2018. Nationals DHs didn’t hit any homers at American League ballparks in the last 2 seasons.
In 2017, Pirates DHs failed to bat a run in. In 2019, Rockies designated hitters had 0 RBI.
Hitting is hard. The universal designated hitter rule will give some players more plate appearances, and will also give managers a task. For a manager, there are several things to think about. Who should be a DH? How to use a DH? Do we need a full-time DH this season? Designated hitters do not have to take on the field on defense. Hence, the most important thing for them is to “hit” and “hit well”. They have to prepare in the dugout and they have to wait in the dugout. It will be extremely important for them to identify hitting strategy before every at-bat. National League managers usually use DH to provide one of their other regular players with a partial day of rest. However, things are quite different this season. Writing a name on a DH spot is an everyday job. NL managers will have to effectively use DH because a DH is considered to provide above-average offense. In a 60-game season, there is little room for mistakes. Every at-bat will be more significant. Great designated hitters such as David Ortiz can help a team win the World Series Champions. It will be really interesting to see how the universal DH rule will impact on the National League. At the same time, which team will benefit the most from the new rule?
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