Between Three Palms: Who's Your Dodgers DH?
Can't get enough bunting? Bad bunting. Ugly bunting. Hung-out-to-dry-botched-squeeze-play bunting? Bunting into double plays? Or triple plays? Then turn your heads, National League fans, because this is going to be upsetting. Because the universal designated hitter is coming. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life.
And it's not the end of the world as we know it. You'll live. I'm almost sure of it.
Momentum for a move to a universal DH has been building for a while now, and while it's not a done deal, we're almost certainly going to see it in 2020. If we see anything in 2020.
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Once Major League Baseball has the DH in place for a year, you can count on it being made permanent soon after. The players want it too, by the way, so if you're going to reserve scorn about the universal DH, you might as well make the scorn universal while you're at it.
In the short term, the DH will help the Dodgers. Dave Roberts will mix and match because he likes to mix and match. He'll use the DH to get at bats for those who need it. He'll use it with a guy nursing a minor ailment. He'll use it to keep Justin Turner as fresh as can possibly be. For the postseason. And he'll go with the hot hand.
With a shortened season, there will be less patience with slumping hitters. If someone jumps out to a quick start, look for Roberts to lean on that man. And expect Edwin Rios to be that man. Watch the video. Then come at me with your complaints in the comments section below.
And remember, glove conquers all.
Howard Cole has been writing about baseball on the internet since Y2K. Follow him on Twitter.
