Of all pitchers to be lauding the universal DH rule that was added before the shortened 2020 MLB season, CC Sabathia is kind of a funny representative.
Of all American League pitchers with at least 50 plate appearances since 1960, only 24 of them have an AL OPS over .500, and Sabathia is one of them. As a pitcher with the Indians from 2001 to the middle of the 2008 season, Sabathia's career slash line was .300/.317/.475 in 42 plate appearances. In his short stint with the Brewers, he hit an acceptable .229 with three of his 14 hits going for extra bases.
In other words, he was a very good hitting pitcher for a large portion of his career — we'll forget his Yankees years — and even he admits that the universal DH was a good change for the game. He and Mets slugger Dom Smith talked about the rule changes on the latest episode of "R2C2 with CC Sabathia and Ryan Ruocco" and came to an agreement regarding the lack of pitchers taking the plate.
"That's obviously something I liked a lot, and I know a lot of true diehard NL fans who are gonna beg to differ and say that pitchers should hit," Smith said. "But giving a guy an everyday start or a bench guy an everyday job, I think that's pretty good for our league and then, as well, it'll just keep pitchers more healthy."
Though Smith only acted as the team's DH in five games in 2020 — it usually shifted between Robinson Cano, Pete Alonso and J.D. Davis — the flexibility allowed due to the new addition to the lineup helped Smith and others to find playing time consistently. And it was a good thing he became a regular in the Mets lineup as he finished in the top ten in the NL in batting average (.316), slugging percentage (.616), OPS (.993), RBI (42) and several other categories.
"And then it's more fun for the fans, too!" Sabathia added. "Don't nobody wanna watch the f---ing pitcher hit! And I was a hitting pitcher! Don't nobody want to see that sh--, man. For me, I wanna see somebody that can actually go deep."
Smith and Sabathia also mentioned how even the good hitting pitchers don't really like hitting, anyway, and especially wouldn't want to run the bases. For the 6-foot-6, 300-pound Sabathia, that doesn't come off as particularly surprising.
As for the other rule changes, Smith was split.
"The seven-inning doubleheaders — absolutely love them," Smith said. "And I think 90 percent of the players would agree with me. Nine innings, three hours, something three-and-a-half, four-hour games. Those are just tough for your body, and to play two of those in one day, that's a long week, a long two weeks, a long month."
"The thing with the runner on second base in extra innings? I didn't like that one so much. That one is so tough, just putting that much pressure on a bullpen guy right off the bat. It's hard to get guys out as it is so they just add that pressure on him. It just made it tough as a team, especially being on defense out there and then having to come in and score a couple runs. I didn't like it. I'd rather just play extra innings and bang it out and figure it out that way."
Smith didn't comment on any of the other rule changes, but there's one that doesn't affect Smith that has received fairly strong negative reviews.
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