The Anti-“Let the Pitcher Hit” Thread

In this thread, your ONLY comments allowed are those that do NOT favor the pitcher being part of the hitting lineup. I will delete any post otherwise.

There is really only one reason that you don’t want the pitcher to bat: the gap in talent level is too great. While a team may play a no-hit, great-field player, a team would never play a no-pitch, great-hit pitcher. A pitcher truly is a different class of player. So, I’m looking for alternatives.

The first two are a hybrid approach:
1. Let the home manager make the call. Just as in spring training, the managers decided whether to play with a DH, and just as in the World Series they alternate the DH, this rule allows the home manager to decide when to play the DH. The marketplace will decide how much DH is too much DH. Story potential for every game.

2. Make the DH as a pinch hitter for the pitcher, but the pitcher can stay in the game (the one-and-done DH). Manager has to decide how much he wants to deplete his bench. He can go to 4 pinch hitters in a game while his pitcher pitches a complete game, or he can let the pitcher bat in low-leverage situations. The marketplace will decide how much DH is too much DH, with an in-game cost. Story potential if the bench gets depleted.

These are pure: no pitcher-as-batter:
3. Rotate the guy as DH onto the field, maybe alternating with the 1B and/or LF. The one-dimensional player like Adam Dunn is always exposed.

4. Limit the number of games a player can play as DH. Similar to the rotation rule in #3, but rather than rotate in-game, he rotates between games. Say, at most 50% of games played as DH. Same “expose” rule as above.

5. Do away with the DH, and go with 8 hitters in a lineup. Wrecks havoc with the magic nine of baseball, but so be it.

6. Same as number 5, and reduce the innings down to 8: 8 batters, 8 innings. And, one less crappy reliever to see. Game time shortened by twenty minutes.

7 to n: You tell me

Related thread: “Pro pitcher-as-batter“.