2018 Positional Power Rankings: Designated Hitter
The current post is the last of this week’s installments in the positional power rankings. (Pitchers will appear next week.) If you’re the sort of person who’s unfamiliar with what a “positional power ranking” is, you have every right to read the introductory post by Dr. Jeff Sullivan, a real medical doctor who is certified to comment on all manner of physical maladies and whom you should contact with real, pressing, possibly urgent health concerns.
If, on the other hand, you’re acquainted with these particular rankings of power, consider turning your attention immediately to the chart below, which depicts WAR projections for all the American League’s designated-hitter depth charts.
Historically, the offensive burden on designated hitters is high. It probably should be high: the position carries little in the way of other obligations. If a designated hitter isn’t hitting, he doesn’t have much other value to his club. Maybe he’s a proficient interlocutor, one capable of identifying the common ground between himself and those around him. That’s an important skill. How it translates to run-scoring, though, isn’t immediately obvious.
By the numbers, the Yankees probably have the best designated hitters. The White Sox probably have the worst, according to the same numbers. All the other clubs appear between those two. All other commentary on the topic appears below.
Carson Cistulli has published a book of aphorisms called Spirited Ejaculations of a New Enthusiast.
Jesus Christ, that White Sox paragraph was savage.
Leave poor Davidson alone. XD
I don’t think he’s ever going to make it as a DH…he’s going to have to add something in the field. Unfortunately, he’s currently blocked at third by the immortal Yolmer Sanchez, who was the third most valuable player last year for the White Sox (would have been 4th had they not traded Frazier, and likely 5th had Delmonico had a full year, and will likely finish no better than 6th because of Welington Castilo…ah, forget it).
That grad student comment was savage.
Leave poor ME alone. :/