The postponement of a 2020 baseball season should be coming to an end very soon. Although the true plan is yet to be confirmed, with the frontrunner being the season starting on July 1 at teams’ home ballparks. MLB has also discussed the potential implementation of rule changes for the season such as seven-inning doubleheaders, three divisions instead of six, etc.
The rule change that could impact the Dodgers the most is the universal designated hitter. While it would greatly give the team as a whole an advantage, it could greatly affect how players are used.
Why Would it be Beneficial?
It can be argued that the Dodgers have the deepest roster in the entire league. Guys like Chris Taylor, Matt Beaty, Ross Stripling, or Kiké Hernandez would be starters on many teams that aren’t the Dodgers while prospects such as Dustin May, Tony Gonsolin, etc. would’ve been made their debuts much sooner.
While the Dodgers have the deepest roster, they also have one of the deepest lineups with depth to dip into and replace their pitchers with a more than capable hitter. Dodger pitchers hit a combined .157 last season while striking out 40% of the time. Hitters hit over a hundred points higher for a combined .263 batting average and only striking out 23% of the time.
Replacing pitchers with an extra position player in the lineup would give the Dodgers a better chance of putting the ball in play and increasing their already dangerous offense. The Dodgers could also use that DH slot to rest guys such as Justin Turner or AJ Pollock who are aging and need days off.
Who Would it Hurt?
While the DH would lengthen the Dodgers lineup and make it much more dangerous, the Dodgers already led the National League in runs scored as well as home runs in 2019. Of course, adding an extra batter instead of a pitcher every game would go a long way in ensuring the Dodgers repeat that, it’s not necessary for the Dodgers to produce.
Implementing the DH would strip guys like Kiké, Taylor, Pollock, Beaty, and whoever else is on the Dodgers bench. It would essentially eliminate the Dodgers advantage of having a deep bench to call on late in the game to pinch-hit. Just take a look at the AL, they utilize their benches less than the NL does. Their playing time would decrease with the potential to be called on every day as a sub going out the window.
The game would lose its sense of strategy. There would be less use of small ball and the chess games between managers with their benches late in the game almost disappear. Adding the DH to every time in the NL would also make Dodger pitchers work even harder. Having a pitcher slot in the lineup gave the opposing pitchers a little break as they tended to lose some velocity when facing them. With a full line up of hitters, pitchers would have to work even harder which could decrease their already declining innings pitched. You don’t want to have to call on your bullpen too early and overuse pitchers.
Conclusion
Implementing the DH would already add to a dangerous lineup that the Dodgers have this season. Opposing pitchers would have nightmares of the never-ending quality at-bats and power that the Dodgers would bring to a game, while Dodger pitchers could face some struggles in their own right. As someone who doesn’t believe the game should or needs to constantly change, I personally don’t believe the DH should be implemented long term. It takes away from seeing moments like Maeda’s first homer in his major league debut or Kershaw hitting a home run on opening day while throwing a complete game shut out against the Giants.
I love the DH–I dont want my pitchers hitting–they are no good at it and can get hurt—Its a no brainer to me—Long overdo
More of an old school kind of guy in terms of that part of the game. Most pitchers are pretty bad at it but you have some such as ex-Dodger Zack Grienke who hit pretty well for a pitcher.