Designated Hitters Make Baseball Better

[SixFeetDeep]

There is a growing belief amongst NL GM’s that the DH will be instituted for NL as early as 2021. FWIW.

Bowden

[MBGreen]

In b4 Italian Seafood kills himself

[guinness77]

That sucks.

[SixFeetDeep]

National League pitchers hit .131/.162/.166 last year

INB4 doubleswitch strategy talk

[SixFeetDeep]

That sucks.

I actually like having the 2 leagues with the rules as they are with a small amount of inter league play

I do think it makes a ton of business sense to add the DH. You’re also squeezing 16 likely decent-above average hitters out of a starting spot

[MBGreen]

That sucks.

You have a Barry Trotz led hockey team....you garner zero sympathy here.

[guinness77]

I’ve made my feeling known on this already. No need to rehash it.

[Italian Seafood]

In b4 Italian Seafood kills himself

Baseball isn't worth killing one's self over. It's not like it's basketball.

National League pitchers hit .131/.162/.166 last year

INB4 doubleswitch strategy talk

If this is your argument you clearly don't understand the point.

[Italian Seafood]

I’ve made my feeling known on this already. No need to rehash it.

True. They don't want to get it so they won't.

[SixFeetDeep]

True. They don't want to get it so they won't.

I don’t think MLB gets it either hence the rule change

[Italian Seafood]

I don’t think MLB gets it either hence the rule change

It's been discussed before. Hard enough to stay awake through 10 pm starts, put the DH in and it will be impossible.

[MBGreen]

It's been discussed before. Hard enough to stay awake through 10 pm starts, put the DH in and it will be impossible.

Put the DH in and your baseball fandom instantly increases.

[guinness77]

Baseball games have become pretty insufferable to me, so yeah, MLB clearly knows what it’s doing.

[SixFeetDeep]

Slash lines (since 2015):

Pitchers: .127/.157/.163; -3,766.2 wRAA, -17 wRC+

DH’s: .251/.326/.443; 457.7 wRAA, 105 wRC+


I just don’t see why anyone would want to watch a pitcher hit. It’s a complete waste of time for everyone

[SixFeetDeep]

It's been discussed before. Hard enough to stay awake through 10 pm starts, put the DH in and it will be impossible.

I checked the data provided to me by ESPN Stats & Info, focusing on 1997 to 2013 (interleague play started in 1997 and 2013 is the last full year in the data set).

My first check was the simplest. I divided all games into four categories: games between AL teams, those between NL teams, interleague games hosted by AL teams (which have the DH) and interleague games hosted by NL teams (which don’t). Games between AL teams were, on average, two minutes and 15 seconds longer than games between NL teams.


But that gap might be because certain AL teams — notably Boston and New York — are slower than NL teams and not because of different rules. Luckily, interleague and World Series games provide a useful test, because teams typically have played each opponent roughly the same number of times at home and away — albeit not necessarily in the same season. That should control for any effect from particular teams or matchups.

So, when the same two teams played each other in an NL park or an AL park, which game was longer?

On average, surprisingly, the longer game has been in the NL park — by 15 seconds. That calculation is based on more than 2,000 games each in NL and AL parks — defining interleague to include regular-season and World Series games between an AL team and an NL team.

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/is-the-dh-rule-bane-of-baseball-purists-slowing-the-game-down/

Not really a valid argument when it’s a matter of minutes either way you slice it.