August 20th, 2020 at 8:00 am 
by Ron Cervenka Wednesday night’s painful 6-4 loss to the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park in the Pacific Northwest was the 26th game of the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season for the Dodgers. In other words, their season is now exactly 43.33% completed, with 34 regular-season games remaining.
In each of those 26 games, the designated hitter rule has been used by National League teams for the first time in MLB history per a special COVID-19 collective bargaining agreement between MLB and the MLB Players Association as part of their health and safety protocols. The idea, of course, is (was) to reduce the risk of injury to NL pitchers due to the shortened Summer Camp ramp-up to the shortened 60-game season.
By every indication, the DH in the NL is indeed working as planned (and hoped). Now, this certainly is not to say that there haven’t been any pitcher injuries thus far, but (obviously) none of them were batting related.
Thus far, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has used 11 different players as his designated hitter as follows:
- A.J. Pollock – 7 times
- Corey Seager – 5 times
- Joc Pederson – 4 times
- Chris Taylor – 3 times
- Justin Turner – 3 times
- Max Muncy – 2 times
- Cody Bellinger – 1 time
- Mookie Betts – 1 time
- Austin Barnes – 1 time
- Matt Beaty – 1 time
- Edwin Rios – 1 time
Collectively, the Dodgers designated hitters are 30-for-97 for an impressive .309 batting average. They have also slugged a combined eight home runs in the DH role.
Any way you slice it, this is far better than any Dodger pitcher at the plate, and it isn’t even close. Even Dodgers ace and future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw, who is often said to be a pretty good hitting pitcher, has a meager .159 career batting average.
During a recent Zoom media scrum, Roberts was asked if, being (nearly) halfway way through the 2020 season, he likes the DH rule thus far. Without hesitation, the Dodgers skipper said that he does, adding that he fully expects that it will become a permanent thing in the National League going forward. Keep in mind that aside from that pitcher safety thing, the 48-year-old Naha, Japan native and six-year MLB manager (five with the Dodgers) has been rather outspoken against the DH in the NL, as recently as Opening Day 2020.
All of this said, for many (most) old-school National League baseball fans, the DH is a travesty to our national pastime, and nothing anyone can say will convince them otherwise. To them, all I can say is: If the Dodgers are in an absolute must-win game – say like Game-7 of the 2020 World Series – who would you rather see getting two, three, or four at-bats, Clayton Kershaw or A.J Pollock?
What’s your take? Should the DH become a permanent thing in the NL?
Fire away.
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Posted in 
@Dodgers The purest in me says go but I kinda like it.
That’s a very good question. Right now I don’t know how I feel. I guess I kind of like the strategy used when we don’t use the DH. I’ve truly gotten use to the N.L. stile of play. But now I think I can get use to the DH.
That’s pretty much how I see it, as well.
I was as dead set against it as one could possibly be … until we tried it. But the numbers simply do not lie. A (current) combined .309 batting average and eight home runs from the (thus far) 11 Dodgers designated hitters simply cannot be overlooked.
Although I would be OK with the DH beinging limited to only the 2020 season, I most certainly could (now) live with it beyond this season.
Like Roberts, I also believe that it is here to stay.
Good article, Ron. I agree with you. Now how do you feel about keeping the player placed on 2nd to start the 10th inning in a tie game?
I like the ITB ( international tie break) and hope they keep it.
I HATE the extra inning runner-on-second rule. It’s like watching a Little League game.
It also screws up the stats. The Dodgers recently won a game without an official at-bat in the 10th inning. And what if a guy has a perfect game going? How do you explain the runner on second base?
That being said, I’m (sort of) ok with it this season for the obvious reason of protecting pitchers and bullpens for back-to-back doubleheaders. But I absolutely DO NOT want to see it become a permanent thing; if for no other reason that to shove it up Manfred’s … nose.
Reminds me of the shoot out in hockey tie games. It is not baseball to me to play this way, but as you said, kind of ok with it this short season.
@Dodgers It would be interesting to see how the majority of NL pitchers feel about it.
Yes. Absolutely. Nothing kills a rally more than a pitcher at bat.not to mention how boring 0 for 4 with 3 strikeouts is.
I agree, I was against it but it is inevitable. I also like the International Tie Break rule (ITB) to end extra inning games.
I want the DH in the NL. It really helps the dodgers. It works great for next yr with JT and Rios and company sharing 3b and JT getting some DH action as well.
Bringing more excitement to the game is needed, and it was inevitable for the DH to be adopted by the NL; the Players Association would never agree to the AL dropping the DH. I liked the game without the DH when many pitchers were excellent hitters, took pride in that part of their game, and took regular BP. But now, the number of good hitting pitchers can be counted on one hand. DH is here to stay, time marches on, and as Steve wrote, the rule really helps the Dodgers.
I’m late to the party on this one. Great article, Ron. A few thoughts…
Like OBF, and the rest of the “old-school,” I also enjoy having the added strategy when the pitcher bats. It’s the way the game was meant to be played and separates the good managers from the great managers in how they employ their bench on a daily basis. It can truly be a juggling act.
That said, I have enjoyed seeing the DH thus far. Dave Roberts has shown time and again that he doesn’t always lean toward the “great manager” side of the spectrum. He’s a good manager and having the DH will definitely give him more games in the win column when his managerial career comes to an end. And who’s to say that Clayton Kershaw won’t get a between start pinch hit appearance, if needed, when (and if*) the rosters are brought back to normal next year.
And like you, Ron, I can’t see any way around NOT having another “All-Star” player in the lineup. The analytics will most certainly give the Dodgers a solid composite DH that cannot be overlooked. It will certainly aid in making the Dodgers a solid contender each year. So the DH will probably stay. I suppose we will pity the relief pitchers at Coors Field more so now than in the past.
*I am of the opinion that we won’t be over COVID until this time next year. My two cents after some poking around the ‘net.