The case for bringing the designated hitter to the National League

Pitchers aren’t as exciting to watch hit

I’ve seen it happen so many times: a pivotal point early in a ballgame. Bases loaded. Two outs. Game tied. And the next batter to come up… is the pitcher hitting .050, and he proceeds to whiff on three straight pitches.

In so many National League games, a pitcher coming to the plate kills an inning.

There are a few pitchers in the league that can hold their own with the bat, but most of them are not major league caliber hitters. When you’re in a potential run-scoring situation and a weak-hitting pitcher is due up, how does that make the game more exciting? Or, when there are two outs with nobody on and the pitcher coming up, I often use that as an opportunity to get a head start on my restroom break between innings.

The bottom line is that watching pitchers bat, for the most part, is not fun.

Some fans might respond to this objection by saying pitchers should work more on their hitting. In a perfect world, that would be great. Yet the reality is, especially in this age of specialization, that pitchers need to spend as much time as possible working on their pitching to prepare for each outing. With so much advanced scouting and analytics in the game today, focusing on pitching is the best use of the pitchers’ and coaches’ time.

Would taking the bat out of the pitchers’ hands take away from the athleticism of the game, both from pitchers and from having designated hitters who don’t play in the field? Probably. Yet having a real hitter up there in every situation makes the game more enjoyable.