Solving the Designated Hitter Mess

The designated hitter rule gap in Major League Baseball needs to go away. I have devised a totally reasonable compromise to finally put this decades long standoff to rest, enabling both leagues to play by the same rules. First, a quick review of the major arguments on each side of the designated hitter rule.

Pro DH

The quality of play is higher in the American League. Offensive lineups are better in the AL because designated hitters are much better batters than pitchers. The AL defensive play is also better since weak fielding sluggers can DH, allowing the nine best fielders to comprise the defense. It is painful to watch most pitchers hit. And they often suck the excitement out of crucial points of the game. A pitcher's at bat during a two out early inning rally, when pinch-hitting is out of the question, is the most anti-climactic moment in sports. 

The position of designated hitter is a valuable and highly paid roster spot that has extended the careers of many popular players. Fans enjoy these players and the MLB Players Association would hate to lose the DH opportunity for its rank and file.

Anti DH

There is much more in-game strategy in the National League. Having the pitcher in the batting order opens the game to managerial creativity. Never mind that the strategy NL fans hold so dear only exists because there’s a stiff in the lineup. Go figure baseball. Anyway, there are two key strategic elements to the National League game: the pinch-hit for the pitcher and the double switch. A manager’s decision whether to pinch hit for a pitcher, weighed against the value of the pitcher remaining on the mound, and the double switch, which removes the pitcher and a position player and adjusts the batting order to delay a pitcher’s plate appearance, are components of the National League game that do not exist when a DH is in the lineup.

Baseball “purists” believe the pitcher is supposed to hit. That’s the way baseball was invented and should always be played. Impose a DH and what's next, separate squads for offense and defense?

What to do?

It is safe to say the American League is not going to drop the DH, nor is the National League going to adopt it. But there is a viable alternative. Let pitchers bat, but allow managers an option to reduce the number of those at bats.

I propose the rules of both leagues be changed to the following:

• A team may insert a replacement batter for the pitcher- let’s call him a "free hitter"- and have the pitcher continue in the game, with limits. (I like the "free hitter" label- less clinical than "designated hitter" yet more descriptive than, say, "shortstop," but I'm open to suggestions).
• A free hitter may be utilized no more than once during the first five innings, twice during the first nine innings and once during extra innings. (The starting pitcher will have to bat at least once, unless he gets a very early shower).
• It would be determined that a team has utilized a free hitter if the pitcher returns to the field in the next half inning. (If the pitcher doesn't return, they utilized a pinch hitter. There's no need to notify the umpires one way or the other). 
• The free hitter cannot play a defensive position.
• Once a player has been identified as a free hitter, he must remain the free hitter for the remainder of the game, with one exception:
• A team would have the option of replacing its free hitter during the course of the game only if a pitch strikes the free hitter, regardless of whether the free hitter has been injured by the pitch. (Call me a cynic but this prevents a team from trying to eliminate the free hitter in order to face the pitcher at the plate for the remainder of the game).

And finally, to tie up some loose ends:

• A team would lose its free hitter if it utilizes a double switch that moves the pitcher forward in the batting order.
• If a free hitter cannot complete the game, e.g., due to injury (except if hit by a pitch) or ejection, the pitcher must bat.

That’s it. Now what does it all mean?

The free hitter is not a DH. In a regular nine-inning game, the free hitter could get two plate appearances instead of the roughly four that a DH would have. But free hitters' plate appearances would be meaningful at bats, typically occurring when there is a scoring threat or an urgent need for a run. Pitchers in a regular nine-inning game could lose two plate appearances through the free hitter rule. They would bat, but not all the time, and certainly less often in key situations. 

The free hitter would maintain a valuable spot on the roster, arguably as valuable as the current DH, and there would be twice as many free hitters as there currently are designated hitters.

The free hitter would add a whole new strategic element to the game, especially in the early innings, without removing pinch hitting and double switch options from a manager’s toolbox.

Again, the free hitter would reduce, but not eliminate, pitchers’ plate appearances. It would make the game more exciting, particularly in the early innings, when facing a pitcher at the plate could not easily quash a rally. It would add strategy to the game without taking away other key strategic elements. It would expand a valuable roster spot that could be held by players with a similar skill set to the current designated hitter.

The fact that there’s a major difference in the rules of the two major leagues is ridiculous. This rule change would actually enhance the game in each league. For the National League, it would improve the level of play on the field, offensively and defensively, and bring an exciting new feature to the game. For the American League, it would re-insert all of the beloved baseball strategy that has been missing, and then some.

This proposal is a fair, realistic and workable solution. Let’s get out there and make the change. Are you with me?