Why don't we announce any of our pinch hitter as our SP, place him on the 1st AB, and then when is our time to pitch, just substitute him for the regular starting pitcher, after that you just shifted the line up by one and gain an extra good AB. I know it won't happen but an idea, just to make fun of the stupid NL no DH rule. And only the road team will be able to gain the advantage because they bat first. Is the WS but why can road team utilize it in the regular season in the lesser meaningful game, especially interleague games?
You're essentially burning a pinch hitter immediately and then having the pitcher's spot in the lineup getting the most at bats. And, to maximize the outcome a team would be burning their best bench player with no one on base in the first inning. In a typical game the leadoff spot will get one more at bat than the 9th spot.
We have finally become AL fans. I'm all in on the DH. I don't care to see pitchers hit any more and I don't think there should be such a drastic advantage/disadvantage in the World Series.
Yeah...I can't believe how much I've come around on the DH. I lamented the move to the AL..and hated the DH...now I can't imagine making an argument for having pitchers bat that isn't rooted in some dogmatic nonsense.
Interesting theory, I could see it happening in the playoffs if a team carried plenty of extra position players and had solid hitting off the bench to save for later in the game (which we do not).
I think that would be the time to do it. Keep in mind you would essentially have the pitcher in the leadoff spot the rest of the game.
My wild strategy is for our pitchers to understand and actually execute a simple bunt. Keuchel looked like a fool last night.
FWIW addressing OP, if you start the fake pitcher at say lead off, that spot in the order would come up in the batting order the 3rd or 4th inning, so instead of being your 9th batter of the game, the pitcher would be the 10th hitter of the game The sorry ass pitcher would still hit at basically the same time he always does, you are only pushing him back for one batter, so there's virtually nothing gained, you're just burning a player. And if that hitter is any good, he would be starting, or you would want to save him for a more important PA.
The main difference I noticed, now being five years out from when the Astros were in the NL, is how much more of a crutch it is for those pitchers over there. Christ it's much easier to pitch, knowing that one third of your innings could be a cakewalk because of that black hole in the batting order. You know why LA NEEDS Rich Hill to pitch in Dodger Stadium. He's a complete paper tiger; needs their park effect and the absence of the DH to be respectable. Come on Astros, expose his ass.
Either way, it's silly that the MLB allows different conferences different rules of play. They should have favored one or the other at least 20 years ago. Imagine if the Western conference had a 3 point line and the Eastern conference didn't. It's stupid, always will be stupid, and for the Astros to have the rules change on them suddenly seems a bit unfair. I think it favors the NL team honestly since they are more prepared for it, their pitchers are also more prepared to bunt and hit.
it is stupid but "traditions" in MLB. Anywho, DH or not, it's not the reason we lose or why we'll lose IMO. Our bats just hasn't been hitting on the road, but we have Verlander today. We just need to score 3 runs and we should be good! Rich Hill is definitely hittable so let's do this and bring the series back 1-1
The separate leagues used to be more than just "conferences". They once had separate leaders (presidents), separate umpires, and as we know still, separate rules. You should read about the flukey nature of why the NL didn't adopt the DH 40+ years ago, when it was clear how popular it was in the AL.
I don't think it will be the reason we lose or win, just that it's a slight advantage for teams used to playing with the handicap of having their pitchers hit. Admittedly I don't know much about the history between the two, I just know it is pretty silly how that works out. I think the DH is better, but they should already just move to either having it or not and moving on from it.
What makes a pitcher different from any other position on the field? What is your argument for why pitchers shouldn't hit? Why can't we just start Marisnick every day in Center and then replace him with a DH?
This is absolutely brilliant OP. You could lead off with Fisher for example, or a right handed AB in the case of tonight against a lefty. You then slot everyone else down 1 in the order. Essentially you gain an extra AB for nothing. I'm actually shocked no one has thought of this before. I would leadoff with Maybin tonight doing this but Hinch already posted his lineup.
Knew it was too good to be true. The starting pitcher must face 1 batter before being replaced by rule. J.D. Davis would be my guy for this strategy. Lol
I still don't like the DH and probably never will. I like how it changes pitching strategy when the pitcher has to hit. Relating to this thread though I don't think it's a good idea to have the pitcher's spot lead off. As noted you burn a pinch hitter. One thing though I think the Stros need to do is remember what it was like to play NL ball. They need to figure out how to play small ball and manufacture runs. A friend of mine pointed out how frustrating it was to have Altuve on base and then Correa and Gurriel come up swinging for the fences on first pitches rather than giving Altuve a chance to try something on the bases. We need to win one game under NL rules so they better adapt.
