Light your torches. Grab your pitch forks. Call Bob Walk.
Because I’m going to make a statement that might shake baseball’s purists to their core: The Pittsburgh Pirates would benefit from the National League adding the designated hitter.
I can hear the screams from where I am in Missouri.
Now, keep in mind this isn’t an avocation for the NL to adopt a DH. Pitchers hitting adds another layer of depth and strategy to the game, which would disappear if everyone had a DH. Not to mention it would take Bartolo Colon out of the batter’s box, which is a gift that keeps on giving every time he steps between the white, powdered lines.
Still, consider how much it could potentially benefit the Pirates if they adopted a designated hitter.
The first reason involves Andrew McCutchen.
Things certainly haven’t gone the former-MVP’s way at the plate this year. Across the board, he’s posting career lows in hitting, and speculation is rising that the 29-year-old might be in a decline — it’s possible, his game is predicated on speed, the first thing to go for athletes.
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But let’s say it’s just a down year for McCutchen. A bounce-back performance the rest of this season and a strong 2017 could put the Pirates in a bind when deciding whether to extend his contract after 2018 or to move on with prized outfield prospect Austin Meadows.
A designated hitter allows Pittsburgh to potentially keep both. It might even be beneficial for it to happen sooner rather than later.
McCutchen is still a quality fielder. But he’s not better than Starling Marte, and McCutchen doesn’t have the range or howitzer of an arm that Gregory Polanco possesses. So, Marte in centerfield and McCutchen or Meadows in left field is likely their best fielding alignment, and the one who doesn’t field still hits.
OK, so a designated hitter lets the Pirates keep the face of the franchise’s turnaround from its 20-year losing streak — maybe the worst 20 years for any pro sports team – AND a potential future all-star. Are you sold yet?
If not, don’t worry. It’s not the only reason the DH would help the Pirates.
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Assume, now, that this season is a sign of things to come for McCutchen. It would be a sad day for the city of Pittsburgh when he departs, but Meadows is still waiting behind him.
And Meadows isn’t the team’s only top hitting prospect blocked from reaching the majors. That brings us to 2016 first round pick Will Craig.
Right now, he has no clear path to starting for the Pirates. Ahead of him at first base is top hitting prospect Josh Bell, who hasn’t even reached the majors yet. Bell is proving in Triple-A that his hitting potential is very real, and the only things blocking him from a call-up are John Jaso and David Freese.
If Craig follows the same path as former Pirate Pedro Alvarez, a fellow first-round college hitter, Craig could be in the majors by 2018. Bell won’t have even come close to hitting arbitration yet.
So say Craig stays at third base, then. Pittsburgh could wait to call him up until 2019, the last year the Pirates have control of current third baseman Jung Ho Kang, and get Craig ready to take over the position.
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Or, if Kang is still mashing the ball, it gives the Pirates the option to keep both. Even if Kang leaves and Craig takes over, a DH would also benefit third base prospect and 2015 first round pick Ke’Bryan Hayes, who could stay on the field with Craig at DH.
I know, the thought of a designated hitter in the NL is unfathomable. It goes against everything pure about baseball. And, again, this isn’t an argument of why the National League should implement one, it’s about why the Pirates need one.
Still, every year, talk of a DH going to the National League gets stronger. It’s very possible that the game is one more star pitcher injury from running the bases or being hit by a pitch away from the change happening, especially with negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement coming up.
It would be unpopular, no doubt. Yet, it still just might be inevitable.
And if, or even when, it happens, might as well look on the bright side of life.
Image credit: Cliff Welch
