A question for rules experts on Ohtani | The Boneyard

A question for rules experts on Ohtani

Blakeon18

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The Angels are coming to Yankee Stadium for a 3 game series.

Do the rules permit the Angels to do the following:

He is not scheduled to pitch in this series but assume he was.

For that game they pitch him and he hits somewhere in the order. In the NL...with no DH...he would probably hit 9th [maybe higher given his ability] but having him hit and pitch would be no big deal.

In the AL: The Angel manager wants Ohtani to pitch and hit. He puts him in his normal slot...3rd/4th..whatever.
He has a starting position player who is excellent on defense but in a terrible hitting slump. Rather than simply pulling him out of the lineup he keeps him playing...but only in the field. He does not bat at all. The manager selects one of his bench players who is hitting well but is awful in the field....as his designated hitter....simply replacing the poor hit guy and not the usual replacement for his pitcher.

That allowed under the current rules? Makes sense to me...with the only fall-out being some embarrassment for the poor hitting position guy playing but not hitting. If the manager just sat the guy for the game and put in the back-up player at that position, that would be kinda normal and not a big deal...he would be just giving the starter a day off.
 

Blakeon18

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Billy: thanks for the link...you are correct...the DH has to be a hitting replacement for the pitcher...no others.
I do assume the Angels would not use a DH when Ohtani is pitching...let him hit like the all-star hitter he in fact is.
 

Husky25

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The Angels are coming to Yankee Stadium for a 3 game series.

Do the rules permit the Angels to do the following:

He is not scheduled to pitch in this series but assume he was.

For that game they pitch him and he hits somewhere in the order. In the NL...with no DH...he would probably hit 9th [maybe higher given his ability] but having him hit and pitch would be no big deal.

In the AL: The Angel manager wants Ohtani to pitch and hit. He puts him in his normal slot...3rd/4th..whatever.
He has a starting position player who is excellent on defense but in a terrible hitting slump. Rather than simply pulling him out of the lineup he keeps him playing...but only in the field. He does not bat at all. The manager selects one of his bench players who is hitting well but is awful in the field....as his designated hitter....simply replacing the poor hit guy and not the usual replacement for his pitcher.

That allowed under the current rules? Makes sense to me...with the only fall-out being some embarrassment for the poor hitting position guy playing but not hitting. If the manager just sat the guy for the game and put in the back-up player at that position, that would be kinda normal and not a big deal...he would be just giving the starter a day off.
Very simply, a team can use a DH in place of the pitcher hitting. It is not required to use a DH.

However if they choose not to, they cannot insert a DH later in the game. So if Ohtani starts and bats 4th, Whoever relieves him will bat in the 4 hole, assuming there is no double switch (which there would be).
 

McLovin

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4 game series and Ohtani is pitching game 4 on Thursday.
 

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