Missing the Designated Hitter
Let's talk about how much better things would be for the 2021 San Diego Padres if their pitchers didn't have to hit.
I know, I’m not the only one that misses the DH. I’m not even the only one who was staunchly opposed to the DH that came around on it during the shortened 2020 season.
Major League Baseball knows that the designated hitter is simply better than having pitchers hit and still didn’t do it before this season because, somehow, both the owners and the players consider it a bargaining chip for their next CBA negotiations (the owners want it because more offense = more fans/money, the players want it because it creates another starting position/salary).
All of that being said, we’re about 30 games into the 2021 San Diego Padres regular season and I can’t stop thinking about how much different (and better) it would be going if this team had a designated hitter position. So, it’s time to vent and explain just some of the ways that it would be affecting this team.
The Yips
You can go ahead and put me in the camp that believes that Fernando Tatis Jr.’s throwing errors this season are more a result of “the yips” than a result of his shoulder injury.
In case you’re unaware, Tatis has 10 errors in 19 games this season. An error every other game is not good at all. By comparison, he had 3 errors in 57 games last year. And 18 errors in 83 games in 2019.
Going beyond the simple fact that he hurt his left shoulder and throws with his right arm, it doesn’t seem like he has as much of an issue when he has to throw quickly than when he has time to think about it. That’s usually a tell-tale sign that someone is overthinking the throw and, as a result, screwing up the release point.
The Padres have proven to have a few decent defensive shortshop options behind him in Ha-Seong Kim, Jake Cronenworth, and Manny Machado. And Tatis has proven that he’s still an incredibly dangerous hitter this season. Being able to give him some starts as a designated hitter would allow the team to get that offensive production while figuring out how to get him back on track defensively.
Eric Hosmer
Hey, you know who else has been good offensively and bad defensively? The four-time gold glove-winning first baseman.
I know, for dumb baseball reasons, the Padres would never permanently put Hosmer on the bench while the team is playing defense…but they probably should. And having the DH means they could do it more often, in an effort to “keep Hosmer fresh”, which could only have a positive effect on the team.
As a result, it would also potentially allow for Wil Myers to deal with his knee injury at 1B/DH instead of running around in the outfield.
Austin Nola
The most maddening thing about the 2021 San Diego Padres is the inconsistent offense. And, sure, some of that has been less than ideal starts to the season for Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado. Another bigger reason has been that the team has been weak, almost every game, in the 7-8-9 spots in the lineup.
That 7 spot has been weak either because Tommy Pham broke a mirror, stepped under a ladder, or has physically fallen apart (and/or can’t catch up to the new baseball). More often than not, it’s now a spot taken by super utility fielder Jurickson Profar, who is both an okay hitter and an okay fielder.
The 8 spot has been weak because of Austin Nola’s broken finger. Whether it was the weak-hitting Victor Caratini or the overwhelmed rookie Luis Campusano, the hitter before the pitcher wasn’t having much more success than the pitcher himself with a bat in his hands. That’s an easy two outs to help opposing pitchers get out of any jam.
Nola’s injury on his catching hand prevented him from catching even though he was ready to hit weeks ago. Him being in the lineup as a DH wouldn’t have prevented the offensive issues presented by Caratini and Campusano, but he would’ve been one of the best options to come in and hit in place of the pitcher while waiting for his finger to completely heal (the Padres bench doesn’t have a lot of hitting, which we’ll probably discuss another day).
Slam Diego
If you happened to listen to the latest episode of Padres Hot Tub, you were probably laughing at my disgust for “Slam Diego” in 2021.
Yeah, it was a really fun and interesting thing that happened last year. The Padres hit lots of grand slams! They did it in consecutive games! Nobody hit grand slams as frequently as the San Diego Padres, a notoriously offensively-starved team since moving to Petco Park!
I think what bothers me most about the “Slam Diego” references in 2021 is that it’s just not really possible anymore without the DH. Any reference to it reminds me that, instead of watching lower order rallies carry over to bases loaded ABs for the top of the lineup, we get to watch them die with relative ease as a pitcher flails as a baseball that they have no chance of ever hitting.
And don’t forget that Jayce Tingler really enjoyed putting good hitters in the #9 spot in the lineup last year to try and get guys on base for the top of his lineup to create these situations, which he could still do this year (and probably should) but is easier to do without having to deal with a “hitting” pitcher.
In summary
I hate watching pitchers hit. I hate watching rallies die. I hate seeing good players that can hit but not play defense (either due to skill or health) sitting on the bench or being forced out on the field to create errors that inevitably lead to runs.
Most importantly, I genuinely miss the 2020 Padres offense. “Slam Diego” and all. And it’s not coming back this year. It’s not coming back until the DH comes back. It will be better than this and it will probably end up being a good offense by the end of the season, but it’s just not the same. It’s not a nonstop line of consistent professional hitters, it’s now a rollercoaster. Because the CBA matters more than the game and the fans, just as it always has.