MLB: 5 tasks new commissioner should prioritize

2. Introduce the DH to National League

As a Cubs fan tired of the mental gymnastic associated with trying to shoehorn Starlin Castro, Javier Baez, Addison Russell, Kris Bryant and Arismendy Alcantara into the same prospective lineup, I may be somewhat biased, but, increasingly, I feel it’s finally time the National League adopted the Designated Hitter rule.

We’ve reached a line in the sand, with baseball needing to get creative and take action to halt its offensive depression. One relatively easy way of boosting offense and, by extension, fan interest, is to grit our teeth, depart from tradition, and plug a qualified, respectable hitter into each NL lineup.

The Senior Circuit is particularly starving, with eight of the eleven worst run-scoring teams in baseball still forced to give over 400 plate appearances each season to pitchers rather than professional batters. It’s no coincidence.

Now, I understand the argument which says that National League Baseball is a purer art form than its junior counterpart; that its brand of strategic small ball appeals to old-time fans and brings to life the games more sequestered nuances. Yet, in an age of near-obsessive dependence on advanced analytics, big league managers are less inclined to play ‘National League baseball’ than at any time in living memory. Nowadays, the sacrifice bunt is excoriated; the stolen base eviscerated. Every stratagem is scrutinized with voracious hunger in the omnipotent, omniscient, Sabermetric arena.

Thus, if people advocate the very expunging of traditional National League tactics, decrying them as risky, stupid or anachronistic, how can they possibly cite the league’s unique ‘tradition’ as rationale for baring the DH? In removing the sacrifice bunt and other assorted plays from the games common lexicon, mathematicians have already made the style of National League play strikingly similar to that of the American League. Accordingly, there are very few arguments against the NL introducing the DH which are not guilty of hypocrisy.

The time has come for Major League Baseball, a supposedly progressive entity, to encourage fairness and equality across the industry it dominates. That extends to the field, where all teams should play by the same contemporary rules. The American League will never drop the Designated Hitter, so the National League must embrace it.

We want to see offense, and this is a prime way to generate more of it. Much more.