Cincinnati Reds: The designated hitter would be extremely beneficial

Though a controversial topic among fans, adding the designated hitter to the National League would really help the Cincinnati Reds.

The designated hitter (DH) would help the Cincinnati Reds ball club immensely. I know this is a controversial topic, but it’s true. The National League has long claimed to be the true form of baseball where “everyone hits”. Honestly, the pitchers don’t hit very often, and the stats to prove how abysmal the Reds pitchers are at hitting.

I know that everyone loves watching Michael Lorenzen step up to the plate, but as a whole, the Reds pitchers are not very good. And it’s not just the Reds pitching staff that can’t hit, it’s the entire National League. While I think the entire NL could use the DH, let’s look at how it would affect the Cincinnati Reds specifically.

To say the Reds pitchers struggle at the plate would be an understatement. It seems that a successful sacrifice bunt, the one thing a pitcher should be able to do at the plate, is no guarantee. So, if the pitchers can’t hit and aren’t able to lay the sacrifice down what good are they at the plate? Let’s look at the cumulative hitting numbers of the 16 pitchers who have had an official at-bat this season.

When is Lorenzen is lumped in with other pitchers, the staff is hitting .138 with 1 home run, 8 RBIs and a .091 on-base percentage. When you subtract Mikey Biceps from the group, the cumulative batting average is .125. Reds pitchers not named Lorenzen have a grand total of 1 home run, 6 RBIs and a .072 OBP.

You can see that the hitting numbers are horrid. The pitching staff is striking out 45% of the time at the dish as well. Literally, not even putting the ball in play nearly half their ABs. Flip a coin every AB and they may not even put the ball in play. Not to mention the ice-cold .138 batting average and .091 on-base percentage.

Yes, you read that correctly, they have a OBP that’s less than their BA. If you’re wondering, this happens due to a sacrifice bunt not counting as an official AB. So, the batting average isn’t hurt, but the OBP still takes the hit.

The MLB league average for batting average is around .250. The Reds pitchers are a full 112 points lower than league average, and they are getting on base less than once every ten at-bats. What is the point of having them go to the plate to be an automatic out? Literally, they are an out nearly 90% of the time. The designated hitter would definitely help the Cincinnati Reds.

Reds pitchers hitting is bad, we’ve covered that. Now, let’s take a look at the worst position player hitters with a minimum of 200 ABs at each category listed above. This should open some eyes. The Cincinnati Reds pitchers are batting .138, the worst batting average for a position player with a minimum of 200 at-bats is Jeff Mathis of the Texas Rangers at .161.

Former Cincinnati Reds center fielder Billy Hamilton has the worst home run total at zero. Mathis also has the worst RBI and OBP numbers at 11 and .214 respectively. Poor Jeff Mathis. Our very own Eugenio Suárez leads the league in strikeouts at 161 and a K% of 32%.

The point is, even the worst hitter in the league has a batting average that’s 23 points better than the Reds pitching staff and his on-base percentage is 123 points better. Even Mathis’ 11 RBIs are better than the 8 that Reds pitchers have served up this season. Even Geno’s K-rate, which is very high, is 13 points better than the average of every Reds pitcher.

The numbers don’t lie. Even if the Reds employed the worst position player hitter in the league, the batting stats would be an improvement. Now, let’s think about the current log jam we have on the roster.

It sure would be nice not having to sit Josh VanMeter, Nick Senzel, Jesse Winker, or Phillip Ervin because there is only three outfield spots to fill. Wouldn’t it be nice to give Joey Votto, Suárez, and other players a day off without missing their bat? Wouldn’t it be nice to not watch pitchers strike out nearly half of their trips to the dish? The DH would help the Cincinnati Reds.