The universal Designated Hitter Rule is the new rule in the 2020 season. We have seen DHs at National League Ballparks for several weeks. After two-thirds of the season, which NL team does really enjoy having a DH in the lineup? Which team is relatively frustrated?
Three NL East teams post an over .800 OPS. Two NL Central teams have an OPS over. 800. The Dodgers are pretty good so far this season, so do their DHs.
The New York Mets used Yoenis Cespedes as DH at the beginning of the season. Cespedes hit .161/.235/.387 with 2 home runs before opting out. After Cespedes decided to opt out, Robinson Cano gets more opportunities at DH and he seems to be very comfortable at this role, his batting average is above .300 at DH. Besides, Pete Alonso, Dominic Smith and J.D. Davis all hit well as DH.
Brad Miller and Matt Carpenter mainly share the duties at the Cardinals, each has more than 40 plate appearances at DH. Brad Miller crushed 5 home runs, leading the Cardinals.
The Dodgers lineup is really deep and more than 10 players have served as DH so far this season. There is no full-time DH in the Dodgers and no players have more than 40 plate appearances at DH thus far.
Former MVP Andrew McCutchen is the only Phillies player that has more than 40 PAs at DH.
Marcell Ozuna had a disappointing 2019 season in St. Louis. However, his first season with the Braves has been pretty good. There’s no much problem to say that he’s the Braves’ full-time DH since he already has more than 90 PAs at DH. His batting average is above .300 with an over 1.000 OPS at DH.
The Cincinnati Reds are loaded with outfielders. The universal DH rule gives Jesse Winker enough plate appearances to show how good he is. With more than 90 plate appearances, his OPS is above .900 at DH.
3 NL teams are probably not happy with their DHs because of a below .600 OPS. In the 2019 season, in 21 at bats, very small sample size, Oakland Athletics’ pitchers hit .286 with a .634 OPS.
Howie Kendrick’s clutch home run in game 7 of the 2019 World Series is truly unforgettable. The defending World Series champions Washington Nationals definitely believed that he could make impacts at DH. However, Kendrick is batting below .250 without any home runs at DH so far. However, when playing at first base, Kendrick does hit much better, batting above .400 and crushing 2 homers.
Colin Moran and Josh Bell each have more than 50 plate appearances at DH. Nevertheless, they did not perform well at this role, Moran hits below .230 and Josh Bell’s batting average is below .100.
The San Francisco Giants are still in the playoff race. But the team really has to solve the DH problem. Pablo Sandoval hits only .227 in more than 40 PAs so far. Wilmer Flores bats below .200 in more than 50 PAs.
After the 40 games, we already see several teams that benefit from the universal DH rule. However, some teams are quite disappointed by their DHs. There are still a few weeks to go in the 2020 regular season. Either full-time DH or using the DH spot as a partial day off for regular players can work. The most important thing is “choose the right player at the right time”.
No comments:
Post a Comment