St. Louis Cardinals: Bloggers sound off over new MLB Rules

Universal Designated Hitter

Daniel Shoptaw: I’ve never been a fan of the DH and while the fact is that it was always coming, according to many, didn’t make me want to accept it anymore. After a season of it, nothing has really changed. It could be because the Cardinals don’t really have a DH, so we’re just seeing another lackluster bat in the lineup, but I still miss knowing where I’m in the lineup-without the pitcher, sometimes I’m not sure who is batting where.

Also, I have sorely missed the other team having to decide whether to leave in a pitcher befuddling the Cardinals to hit or pinch-hit in a close game. I imagine that they’ll make it permanent but I really like to return to real baseball in 2021.

Ron Nuttall: Implementing it this year made sense and it was an opportunistic thing for MLB to implement it this year…knowing it was coming sooner or later. It was like the NL was the Alamo when it came to having the pitchers bat. I don’t mind seeing it and I wonder if anyone even notices it even more. It’s here to stay and it’s another 15 jobs opening for the Players Association and they will like it. I’m okay with it.

Jason Hill: The rule change has been coming for some time and now it is here, I welcome it. At no point this season have I thought to myself, “you know it what would be great here? The pitcher hitting!” The Universal DH centers the game on hitters vs pitchers which is kinda what baseball is all about.

If you’re a fan of strategy and arm-chair managing, there’s still plenty to consider with the running game, pitch strategies, shifting, and (God-forbid) even well-timed bunts. Plus it’s allowed the club to evaluate more hitters at a time, which is vital from a player development standpoint.

Matt Benson: I think, going into 2020, this was a challenge for the Cards, not much time to fill the role, but as the season has gone on it’s useful to give Paul Goldschmidt some rest. With Brad Miller struggling defensively, he fits the role perfectly. Moving forward I expect it’ll be maintained for player safety. But I do think it’s a shame as it’s a nice differentiator between AL and NL.

Russ Robinson: I’m a baseball traditionalist. So I’ve never been a big fan of bringing the DH to the National League (I don’t even like domed stadiums). I always believed everyone should bat that’s in the lineup, and I appreciated the strategy involved in when to pinch-hit for the pitcher.

However, to my surprise, the DH really didn’t bother me this year as I watched St. Louis Cardinals games. Daniel brought up a good point in we really didn’t have a good DH this year, so there was really nothing to draw a Cardinal fan to the DH. But as Jason says, you really don’t get very excited about seeing a pitcher hitting. In the end, I’ve become more dispassionate on the issue. If they bring it back, I’m okay with it. If not, so be it.