This article is part of our Collette Calls series.
The 60-game season was a bit of a laboratory as both the league and its teams tried different rules, strategies and approaches to the abbreviated season. What can we learn from it?
First, the Universal DH may be here to stay. Baseball has a track record of leaving things in once they're introduced. The league has not yet announced whether it and the MLBPA have agreed on the path forward, but eliminating pitching did not have the type of massive impact hypothesized when the rule change was introduced this summer.
The final numbers for pitching in the National League show little difference from the 2019 numbers.
STAT | 2019 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|
K% | 23.6% | 23.1% |
BB% | 8.6% | 9.3% |
AVG | .247 | .242 |
WHIP | 1.32 | 1.33 |
BABIP | .295 | .292 |
LOB% | 72.7% | 71.5% |
FIP | 4.44 | 4.46 |
ERA | 4.39 | 4.48 |
HR/9 | 1.36 | 1.34 |
In 2019, 20 of the 162 games a National League team played were interleague opponents, but only half of those games would involve the DH, so six percent of NL games involved the DH whereas 100 percent of 2020 games involved it. In theory, we would absolutely see a rise in production from the ninth spot in the lineup, but we would also expect to see a noticeable change from the eight spot in the lineup. It is no secret NL pitchers tend to pitch around that spot in the lineup and take their chances facing the pitcher early in games, or forcing the opposing manager to go to the bullpen earlier than desired
