Far too many position players who pitch in a game throw like Anthony Fauci - and no, this isn't me taking a shot at Dr. Shot.
I'll come right out and say it:
I want the DH.
Why? It is boring to see non-hitters trying to hit.
Heck, most of the hitters in the minor leagues don't make it to the big leagues because even they can't hit enough.
So why ask pitchers to try to hit?
Obviously, too, pitchers up there hitting can get hit by pitches or hurt themselves running the bases. Who knows, after all, if fine-hitting Jacob deGrom's arm issues may have started from him swinging the bat.
To me, it's obvious - institute the universal DH.
But my real topic of this article is this:
Forget about pitchers hitting. What about hitters pitching?
About 60 position players PITCHED in 2021 (excluding Ohtani, who is in a league all his own). 909 guys took the mound in 2021 in the majors - and 60 of them were pitchers.
Most of the 60 did so poorly.
Of course, there were some interesting points of observation:
Eric Sagard seemed to have been the non-Ohtani leader in innings with 4.1 IP. (I did not scour the entire list to see if someone was higher in innings, but it appears not).
Willians Astudillo of the the Twins threw 4 innings and allowed just one hit!
Alex Blandino of Cincinnati threw 3.2 innings and fanned 4!
Baseball's two "NOGO" dudes - 1B Nogowski and Mets pitcher Steve Nogosek - both threw exactly 3 MLB innings in 2021!
Harold Castro of Detroit threw 2.2 hitless innings.
And Max Shrock of Cincy threw 1.2 perfect innings, which a number of actual Mets pitchers in 2021 would have been more than happy to have accomplished in their limited 2021 appearances, instead of their rougher outings.
All that said, most of these 60 non-pitchers got smacked around pretty good.
Now, watching a non-pitcher pitch usually happens in blow outs, and can be interesting in an odd sort of way.
But I would like to see pitching by hitters be limited to Ohtani and, if any, future true two-way players like Shohei-san.
How to do that?
I'd propose having a single designated pitcher guy on a taxi squad all season at 1/3 of regular MLB pay. Some AAA type who is at least 30 years old and never pitched in the majors, perhaps - and who would be glad to make $180,000 for a season. He could have no more than 5 outings and 10 innings in that season, and his use would be reserved for only 2 scenarios:
1) A blow out of 10 runs or more. Down 13-4? Just 9 runs down, so he can't be summoned. Down 18-2? Bring him in.
2) An extra inning game of 14 innings or more, where a team has essentially used all its regular pitchers (excluding, of course, guys a team would never bring into a game in relief like a Jacob deGrom due to start within a few days).
Why not try this? As I see it, it is simple - other than Ohtani:
Pitchers shouldn't hit, and hitters shouldn't pitch.
The guys who train their whole lives to hit - THEY should hit.
The guys who train their whole lives to pitch - THEY should pitch.
Hey, the janitor at the hospital is here, and the doctor got sick, so let's have the janitor do the heart surgery today. I...don't think so.
60 non-pitchers pitched vs. 850 pitchers who pitched. SIXTY is 7% of 850. That is crazy high. Too high, if you ask me. I prefer 0%.
How many decent, long-time minor league pitchers never get that precious chance to pitch in the regular season from a big league mound? How many would covet such a chance in this new sort of role?
Let it be some of them pitching instead of Luis Guillermo.
That's my pitch for today.
Was it a hit with you?
Hey it's my first February article.
Go with it, will ya?
12 comments:
So first I do not want the DH. Games are long enough. I don’t mind the innings ending cause the pitchers up…: I never complained in 86 and they scored plenty…. Hit better 1-8
As far as non hitters pitching… I say some times you need to lose the battle to win the war. If a game is loss usually by real pitchers starting then why can’t they end with position players?
Shoot I would be ok with conceding games too. Can teams come back from 10 runs down sure but how often? I am a odds guy and would save whatever arms I would have to use to finish the game
I will be in the minority for sure but I am always a play the odds guy
Field players pitching garbage time is fine with me.
How bout beat writers not writing?
It all goes back to starting pitchers not going deep in games - not just in the majors but minors too. The more they try to protect them, the more they get hurt. Pitchers need to pitch when they are getting racked - especially in the minors - so they can learn how to get guys out even when they don't have it.
In the old days - back when baseball was king - teams would have 5 starters and 5 in the pen. The guys in the back of the pen never pitched. How many games did Randy Neiman pitch in 86? Not much. But should they need a garbage man - he was there.
Baseball is broken. The game has been ruined by accountants and analysts. Kids don't play baseball. They don't watch baseball. They don't talk baseball.
Anyone have any lock out news? Nobody cares.
Tom, that sounds like what the MLBPA should be bringing up.
John, they are meeting today. It’s obvious the owner don’t want change and their laughable proposals show that. I’m pro-owners, but offering a minimum salary of $615K when 40% of players are less than 3 years of service to call it an increase from $575K is embarrassing considering the revenue baseball has, e specially as they are about to add betting on site, two more teams, and several other money making schemes.
The owners don’t want to negotiate, and last night I said to myself that if I were a players’ rep, I’d blow the season to make the league realize we mean business. Right now the league is mocking the players.
By the time a position player is called to pitch, the game is over anyway. I'm okay with it. DH in the NL? no. I rather keep it as it was meant to be played.
Eddie, politicians (usually) concede elections, I have no problem with conceding games at a certain point. Each year, there seems to be at least one mind-boggling comeback - but in the other 99 such games, the blow out remains a blow out.
I in part wanted to come up with a way to get some guys who nearly make the majors but haven't a chance to get a few innings in. I remember that guy the Mets got from the Dodgers about a decade ago (name eludes me) who toiled in the Dodgers minors forever, and was over 30. The Mets got him and he made his post-30 debut and actually pitched well for one season with the Mets.
John, that Smoltz interview with Garrison Bryant had Smoltz really addressing that. You want guys to throw every pitch thru a wall. Short outings and long surgery lines.
A couple of anti-DH votes. Love diversity of thought.
My concern is pitchers getting hurt. Again, it did not seem to happen much in the old days. Maybe it's training, maybe it's 100 MPH pitches hurting pitchers while hitting. I don't want my pitchers getting hurt hitting.
I also would like to see an often-underhitting Mets team get a shot in the arm, as they did in 2020. I am pro-DH.
Texas Gus, I'd hate to see the season blow up. Maybe MLB players can caravan across the US to gather attention and sympathy for their cause.
Over the year (just me), I have stopped watching most sports for a variety of reasons. It would have been unimaginable years ago for me to not know what the Rangers, Islanders, Knicks, Jets and Giants records were. But that is how far away I've gotten from some of these sports.
Baseball should be very careful to not set up a scenario where once rabid fans get to the point where they stop paying attention.
Tom, rabid fans won’t stop paying attention. I stopped paying attention mostly due to the kneeling, the political crap and the headaches. No lockouts bother me. I don’t care about that.
Gus, I am kind of like that with baseball. But other sports I used to follow almost as zealously as baseball have fallen by the wayside for me. Baseball won't lose the fanatic. It could lose some who aren't quite at the fanatic level.
Baseball probably won't lose me, but boy I'd sure like to get back to seeing some real baseball.
I cannot figure out for the life of me why pitchers wouldn't want to work on and become proficient at bunting. There are so many places in a game where a well placed bunt can make a difference between winning and losing, even moreso with the stupid rule of starting a runner on second base in extra innings.
No, I don't like that one. And I wouldn't care to legislate the non-pitchers from pitching. It can be an interesting diversion in a 14-3 game. I agree with John about the lack of innings the starting pitchers are throwing these days. Using six pitchers regularly to get through nine innings is just bad baseball and bad for baseball.
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