Potential National League DHs
With all the potential setups we’re seeing for 2020 baseball, it seems like most would benefit from having a designated hitter included for the National League. If that does come to fruition, a group of hitters will see value upticks just by virtue of getting extra playing time, but they will also benefit from not having to play defense. Let’s go west to east with our NL DH candidates for each team:
ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS
Kevin Cron, Jake Lamb | Cron and Lamb are a righty-lefty combo that could straight up platoon as Arizona’s DH in this scenario. Cron didn’t do much in a tiny sample last year, but he did pop 6 HR and boast a .310 ISO in the 78 PA of work. Lamb is now three years removed from his 30 HR/105 RBI season, but I still think the 29-year old has big power when healthy (he just hasn’t been close to healthy since ’17). Seth Beer is the prototypical DH, but he’s not on the 40-man so I went with Cron & Lamb instead.
COLORADO ROCKIES
Sam Hilliard | Knowing Colorado, they’d probably put Ian Desmond in this role just to piss us off. The fantasy friendly move would be installing Hilliard into a full-time role, though our own Roster Resource has him with the strong side of the LF platoon so he’s not far from playing daily if that happens. The 26-year old smashed 35 HR and stole 22 bases in 559 Triple-A plate appearances last year, leaving fantasy folks salivating at what he could do in a full season in Coors. Garrett Hampson would also fit here. I think I perceive him as the better defender because of his elite speed, but most scouting reports favor Hilliard in the field. Either way, an NL DH should be good news for Hilliard.
LOS ANGELES DODGERS
Edwin Ríos, Matt Beaty | Let’s be honest, they’d use this spot as a rotating partial day off for several guys including veterans without full-time roles like Chris Taylor, A.J. Pollock, and Enrique Hernández, but those guys are going to mix regularly regardless of the setup. Meanwhile, Rios and Beaty are the 40-man roster guys who should see biggest playing time boosts with an NL DH. Beaty had 9 HR and 5 SB in 268 PA last year while Rios sneakily posted a 161 wRC+ in his 56 PA sample. The excess of talent on the Dodgers is insane because one of these two will definitely be left off the roster without an NL DH and I haven’t even mentioned DJ Peters and his .232 career ISO in 1989 minor league PA.
SAN DIEGO PADRES
Ty France, Josh Naylor | France was silly in Triple-A last year, smashing the opposition to the tune of a .399/.477/.770 line just 348 PA. He couldn’t bring it with him in 201 MLB PA with just a .234/.294/.402 line, but the 25-year old would definitely get another look if the NL adopts the DH. Naylor isn’t a terrible defender, but he’s stretched in the outfield and blocked at first base so the DH could be his answer for a full-time role. He showed flashes in 279 MLB PA last year (89 wRC+) while his minor league plate skills remain very encouraging (12% K, 11% BB at AAA last year).
SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS
Hunter Pence, Jaylin Davis | Pence returns to the bay and will get some playing time even without a DH, but he likely becomes a full-timer if they don’t have to put him in the field every day. The 36-year old enjoyed a resurgent 2019 that included a 128 wRC+ in 316 PA. At worst he’ll be a platoon partner for Alex Dickerson. Davis came over via trade last year in the midst of a breakout season with 35 HR and 10 SB across Double- and Triple-A. Can the 25-year old hold his power gains? Probably not in Oracle Park, but if the season is played in minor league parks, Davis could deliver some sneaky deep league pop.
CHICAGO CUBS
David Bote, Steven Souza Jr. | Bote signed a 5-year, $15 million dollar deal to be a super utilityman for the Cubs, but his role could be expanded to include some DH time if the role were added to the Senior Circuit. He’s been a league average bat in 566 PA and at age-27 with a contract in hand, the Cubs will be looking to get him in the lineup consistently. Souza is similar to former teammate Jake Lamb in that he’s three years removed from his 30-homer season as health has ravaged his ability to stay on the field. Cutting his duties to hitting only with some regularity might allow him to stay healthier and tap back into the pop that yielded a .188 ISO from 2015-17 (and a .220 in that big 30 HR season of ’17).
CINCINNATI REDS
Aristides Aquino, Josh VanMeter, Phillip Ervin | The outfield-rich Reds would arguably be the biggest benefactors from an NL DH. It’s not even that their surplus bats are inept in the field, it’s just that there simply aren’t enough spots for all of the talent. Aquino seemed ticketed for Triple-A as Spring Training was winding down, but an NL DH might get him back on the roster. If not, a platoon of VanMeter and Ervin could be the perfect fit for them. This already loaded offense would no doubt get even better if their pitchers no longer need to hit.
MILWAUKEE BREWERS
Justin Smoak or Ryan Braun | Basically the Brewers would just assess who they think is better at first and push the other to DH. Actually, Braun could reasonably be identified as the better defender but still wind up playing more DH just because of his health profile as he enters his age-37 season (Smoak is 33).
PITTSBURGH PIRATES
José Osuna, Will Craig | Osuna hit 10 HR with a .192 ISO last year in 285 PA, but he hasn’t gotten much attention as a Pirates backup this year. A DH role would definitely make him viable in NL-only and deeper mixed formats as he could reasonably push 20+ HR (over a full season). Craig is pretty similar to Osuna in terms of hitting profile, but he hasn’t debuted yet. He’s on the 40-man and has back-to-back 20+ HR seasons in Double- and Triple-A. If given the time, I’d tab him for an Osuna-esque 20-something homers over a full season.
ST. LOUIS CARDINALS
Brad Miller, Tyler O’Neill | Did you know Miller hit 30 HR back in 2016? He has 29 in 831 PA since then. He’d no doubt only be given the strong side of the role if the NL had a DH as his 150-point platoon split has made it pretty clear that he can’t hit lefties. O’Neill’s speed and athleticism would be wasted as a DH so I think he’d push someone else into DH and wind up in the outfield, but I included him because he is the beneficiary to this theoretical addition. He’s got major pop and premium speed, but a distinct inability to make regular contact so the volatility swings will be substantial until he improves that strikeout rate (if he ever does).
ATLANTA BRAVES
Austin Riley, Adam Duvall | Riley was expected to start the season in Triple-A while Duvall was looking at a backup role, but both would benefit from a new hitting role added to the National League. To keep a theme I never intended, I will point out that Duvall hit 30+ HR in both 2016 and 2017, but he’s only been given 557 MLB PA since then (.201 ISO, though). He struck out 30% of the time last year, but still hit 10 HR with a .300 ISO in his 130 PA of work. While we all remember that Riley finished his debut season horribly, let’s not forget that he hit 11 HR with a .955 OPS in his first 33 games. The dude still has incredible power.
MIAMI MARLINS
Garrett Cooper, Harold Ramirez | Would you believe that the Marlins actually have an offensive surplus? Their offseason additions have relegated Cooper and Ramirez to bench and Triple-A roles, respectively. Cooper slowed down a bit in after a big first half (.848 OPS, 8 HR in 208 PA) including just a .581 OPS in August, but he finished strong with a .983 OPS and 3 HR in 46 September PA. Ramirez is more of a batting average guy with a .303 mark in the minors and .276 in his debut last year. He could still develop mid-20s pop as he goes forward, but for now, look to him as a late AVG asset.
NEW YORK METS
Yoenis Céspedes, Dominic Smith | This job would 10000% be Cespedes’s if healthy. If we assume he won’t necessarily be ready off the rip, Smith and J.D. Davis would likely find themselves regularly in the DH position depending on who started for the opposition.
PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES
Jay Bruce, Alec Bohm | Bruce is blocked off from a full-time role as things currently stand so he’s an easy DH candidate here. He can still mash, averaging 30 HR over the last two seasons despite only playing 94 and 98 games, respectively. Like so many others I’ve mentioned in this piece, Bruce hit 30+ HR back in 2017 (36). Bohm is the only non-40 man roster inclusion here only because there’s been buzz about him coming up relatively soon in 2020 and an NL DH could definitely expedite that.
WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Eric Thames, Howie Kendrick | These two are going to platoon at 1B regardless of what happens with respect to the DH, but if they do add the role, these two will both see their playing time jump, especially Kendrick who hasn’t had any platoon issues over the last three seasons, including an insane .930 OPS against righties last year. Thames has yet to eclipse even a .680 OPS against lefties so while a DH would likely secure his roster spot every time there’s a righty on the bump, there’s no real reason to get him any burn against southpaws.
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Who is your favorite potential benefactor from an NL DH? If you’re doing drafts in this downtime, are you drafting as though we will have an NL DH?
Wouldn’t Aguilar be the DH in Miami? I mean in the big picture Ramirez and Cooper benefit with more PT, but the DH has to be Aguilar.
He’s got a full-time role regardless as the starting 1B. While he may shift to DH if it comes to the NL, he doesn’t really gain and this article was really a way to highlight PT gainers. I kinda mentioned that in the intro, but I should’ve been clearer that I wasn’t trying to nail exactly who would DH, but rather who would see the biggest boost in PA if we get an NL DH.
I think Cooper starts many of the games in RF, and some at 1B. So, no, I don’t think he’d be a PT gainer. Whom do you have starting in RF? Matt Joyce? The only rational possibility is Brian Anderson, and he should start at 3B.
#FreeKevinCron
Seriously!
I think it would make more sense for the Cardinals to start Edman at 3B and have Carpenter DH. I trust Carpenter more than Miller to make at least a decent comeback with his much superior track record, while Edman should be in the lineup somewhere. Meanwhile, O’Neill has the inside track to start in LF until Carlson is ready (assuming Bader can hold down CF).
DHing might also help Carpenter stay (somewhat) healthy.
Brad Miller hit quite well last year tbh
I agree Carpenter at DH vs RHP, Edman at 3B, then the rest share the OF spots. Carlson will need to be up from the get go since there is no MiLB, so he will need to be sharing time with Bader, O’Neill, Fowler. Maybe Fowler is DH vs LHP with an OF of O’Neill, Bader, Carlson. Maybe Miller gets a few starts here and there in the OF and at 3rd and 2nd, but I’m wondering how much he is really needed at this point if indeed Carlson will be up when the season begins.
What do you think about Myers for the Padres? With his ability to spell at all three OF positions, plus the corner infield, PLUS the potential DH, mightn’t he be the biggest overall beneficiary even if the majority of his AB don’t come in a hypothetical DH role?
I think you’d be right if the Padres were willing to be rational about what Wil Myers is, but during ST, it looked like they were planning on trying to play him as an every day RF (probably in the hopes that he catch fire for half a season like he did in 2016, which would make his contract much more moveable). They were pushing the annual “this is the new and improved Wil Myers” propaganda particularly hard this year. So I don’t think his PAs really change much with NL DH. I think Paul’s right that a Naylor/France platoon probably benefits most, although if Cordero could stay healthy, I could see him taking ABs from Naylor as the better defender and more toolsy all-around player.
Senzel and Winker seem like pretty good candidates to supplement currently projected part-time gigs with DH ABs as well.
Winker seems the most logical choice for a strong side DH as he has always hit RHPs very well and is a weak defender. Senzel is an excellent athlete with speed and a strong arm – just needs more reps in positions not used to playing. He seems more logical to play in the field (other than occasional rest to curb potential injuries). Castellanos may be a good choice as a weak side platoon as he is great against LHPs and is a weak defender.
Really? Josh Bell and Colin Moran ranked in many advanced stats as the worst 1B and 3B (defensively) respectively and you chose a sort of okay utilityman and a still developing 1B prospect for the Bucs? Osuna is an understandable choice but this one boggles me.
He’s really discussing “who gets the extra PT”, it doesn’t change much for Bell from a fantasy perspective is he is moved to DH.
Ah, got it
One thing that an NL DH would do is make it easier to acquire decent offensive talent in the end game of auction leagues. With 15 full-time offensive roles, there will be more guys worth having, so owners should be confident that they can pick up better-than-normal $1 players at the end of a draft.
And most of these guys will be 1b/of types, so spending bigger on the middle infielder types and filling a couple of the of/1b slots with $1 Garret Coopers and Phil Ervins might be a good way to go. And don’t bother spending more than $1 on the mediocre “well, at least he gets playing time” types like Nick Markakis and (sadly) Joey Votto.
I certainly would welcome a discussion of auction league strategies based on an NL DH. I suspect you are right re “better than normal” $1 players available at the end of the draft, and that these are more likely to come from OF/1B players.
But these strategies will be driven by league differences. I would certainly part company with you on your prediction that Votto is worth on $1 or so, if we are talking about a typical NL-only 5×5 $260 league. If he gets near FT PT and hits .275+, he likely is worth double digits.
Deep guy in Milwaukee is Logan Morrison. He was crushing it in ST and I was astonished at his AAA numbers last year. He can still hit. Perfect for a 50 team draft and hold.
At present, Riley and Duvall are both much better as the weak side of a platoon. I’d think it would most likely be Markakis/Duvall or Markakis/Ozuna with the Braves putting Duvall’s superior glove in the field against lefties.
Add Ryan Zimmerman to the mix for the Nats. A DH would essentially make 1B/DH a three way platoon with Kendrick playing almost every day (but often as the DH) with Thames and Zim platooning based off the pitcher.
I swear if we see Ian Desmond as DH, -1.something WAR minimum. Can someone run the numbers
As a Cubs fan, has Bam Bam improved that much in left where he’s not a consideration for DH?
If they have a DH in the NL this year, it really will feel like there is a conspiracy against Jose Martinez, who finally escaped STL purgatory only to land as one part of about 7 platoons in TB.
“only to land as one part of about 7 platoons in TB.” That’s a great comment. made me laugh.
Lets pray this doesn’t happen. Can’t stand the DH rule.
Both leagues really ought to be the same. Most of my life, I have emotionally advocated for pitchers to hit. As I’ve gotten older, I just don’t see the point in it. Sure, ties back to history of the game. but I can live with new and improved.
Some of us enjoy the variation between the two leagues. And let’s be real, arguing about things can be fun if people can do it with a smile and avoid anger. Yeah, I know, that last part is in shorter supply these days.
If you do, or if you don’t like the idea overall it is being pushed now as an easier way to make the leagues align for this season. Bumgarner is going to be pissed though, as he pretty much refused to go to AL due to this.
I don’t watch AL games. I like small ball, bunting is apart of that.
The better late-game strategy in the NL is the improved way, but alas the Player’s Union will never allow the AL to drop the DH, so playing two different ways is the best we can do.
Although, the DH does still have merit in Spring Training, the All-Star Game, and the World Baseball Classic.
Throw Ryan Zimmerman into the Nats mix… health profile is the main concern with him and Kendrick, and he would greatly benefit from a couple days off the diamond a week.
Wouldn’t schwarber still be a DH candidate? He did improve in Lf but still he really is more of a Dh by his body type and bote probably can be more of a utility man