DH debate again front and center at WS

ATLANTA -- It is possible, though not certain, that Game 5 of this World Series at Truist Park on Sunday night just might have been the last game in Major League history with the pitcher’s spot in the batting order.

And the Braves and Astros sure tried to make the most of it.

We saw five pitchers make a plate appearance in the Astros’ 9-5 victory that forced a Game 6. That tied a record for most pitchers to bat in a World Series game -- a mark reached only six previous times, most recently in Game 4 of the 1993 Series between the Blue Jays and Phillies.

We saw a potential Hall of Famer in Zack Greinke, who had already singled in Game 4 on Saturday night, summoned as a pinch-hitter in the fourth inning of Game 5 … and actually notch a base hit! It was the first pitcher pinch-hit in a World Series game in 98 years.

We also saw two relievers -- A.J. Minter and Kendall Graveman -- make outings long enough to actually get an at-bat. Perhaps appropriately, given the history of pitcher plate performance, Minter popped out on a bunt to the catcher and Graveman struck out looking.

Most pitchers to bat in a World Series game
2021 G5 Astros at Braves: 5
1993 G4 Blue Jays at Phillies: 5
1975 G3 Red Sox at Reds: 5
1945 G6 Tigers at Cubs: 5
1941 G4 Yankees at Dodgers: 5
1939 G4 Yankees at Reds: 5
1932 G4 Yankees at Cubs: 5

So with the Series headed back to American League rules in Game 6, was that the end of pitchers -- or, at the very least, pitchers not named Shohei Ohtani -- hitting?

We’ll find out this winter.

Major League Baseball danced with the universal designated hitter rule as a matter of pandemic protocol for one season only in 2020.

Now, with the current Collective Bargaining Agreement expiring on Dec. 1, there is rampant speculation that the universal DH rule will be negotiated again for 2022 and beyond. Or perhaps a compromise would be reached with the so-called “double-hook rule,” which would force a team to forfeit its DH once the starting pitcher leaves the game, thus emphasizing the importance of length from starters. MLB experimented with the double-hook in the independent Atlantic League this year.

“You can make the argument that it preserves the best of both [AL and NL rules],” said former Cubs and Red Sox GM Theo Epstein, who is now working for MLB as a consultant on potential rule changes.

Naturally, the possibility of the universal DH leads to some opinions.

People have been arguing about the DH for as long as the position has existed, which is nearly half a century at this point (it was adopted for the 1973 season). One side favors added offense, the other added strategy. One side has long since tired of watching pitchers fare feebly at the plate, the other believes “real” ballplayers should be able to do more than just swing a bat.

We’ve heard both sides of the argument during this World Series.

Braves manager Brian Snitker and Astros manager Dusty Baker are not just in opposing dugouts, but on opposing sides of the DH discussion, even though they both come from baseball’s so-called “old school.”

“Prior to experiencing [the DH in the NL] last year, I was kind of like the old guard; I was not for it,” Snitker said. “I am for it now. Because I see, for every Max Fried and Adam Wainwright and Madison Bumgarner, there's 15 guys who can't hit. They don't grow up hitting.”

Baker sees things differently.

“I’m in favor of leaving it the way it is,” Baker said. “Let the DH stand in the American League, and in the National League play the National League-style of ball, because they're both interesting. … The reason why I'm not for the DH in both leagues is because DH is kind of hurting some of the kids that are coming up that don't want to play a position that just want to DH at 12 or 13 or 14 [years old]. … There's more to the game than just hitting if you're going to be a ballplayer.”

The adoption of the DH rule at many amateur levels, and in most Minor League levels, has made offense an afterthought for players developing as pitchers. Some reach the big leagues and are forced to bat for the first time since high school, and it goes precisely as expected. From 2000-09, pitchers had a .143/.177/.184 slash line. In 2021, after a year of rust had collected, pitchers had their worst performance yet -- a .110/.150/.142 slash line.

While pitchers have given us some entertaining moments at the plate (none more indelible than Bartolo Colon’s only career home run in 2016), the pitcher’s spot in the batting order is much more commonly reserved for punchouts and groundouts -- and often preceded by intentional walks of, you know, actual hitters.

If the change goes through, we’ll have new trivia for the books.

Yankees right-hander Larry Gowell already has the distinction of being the last AL pitcher to record a regular-season hit prior to the arrival of the DH, having ripped a double on Oct. 4, 1972.

The Giants’ Logan Webb might have given himself that distinction in the NL with a bang -- a home run to cap a two-hit day -- in this year’s regular-season finale on Oct. 3. And Zack Greinke’s third-inning, pinch-hit single in Game 5 could go down as the last pitcher hit overall before the full-time arrival of the universal DH.

If the universal DH happens, the market for DH-only players like Nelson Cruz and others would sure stand to benefit from 15 NL teams having a new lineup spot to play with. While nothing is final, NL executives are entering this winter preparing for the potential impact the universal DH would have on their rosters.

Universal DH proponents shouldn’t exclaim just yet. But if Game 5 was the end of the pitcher’s spot in the lineup, well, at least a record-tying five pitchers got one last hack at it.