Giving up the DH

Dutch Alexander · 09-04-2013, 08:40 PM

Just played a game where one of my outfielder was injured and had to be removed from the game. As the game had turned into a blow-out I had already put some bench players in the game and had no outfielders left. Since I was leading 9-0 I decided to put my DH (a left fielder) in LF, thereby giving up the DH.

However I could not put my pitcher in the line-up and could not continue until I made a pitching change and put the new pitcher in the line-up.
Is this the actual rule? Do you have to make a pitching change when you put your DH in the field?

VanillaGorilla · 09-04-2013, 08:54 PM

This is in conflict with MLB rules for the DH:

The Designated Hitter may be used defensively, continuing to bat in the same position in the batting order, but the pitcher must then bat in the place of the substituted defensive player, unless more than one substitution is made, and the manager then must designate their spots in the batting order.

Once a Designated Hitter assumes a defensive position this move shall terminate the Designated Hitter role for the remainder of the game.

Rules, Regulations and Statistics | MLB.com: Official info

nyy26wc · 09-04-2013, 09:18 PM

It appears this is what happened. Correct me if I'm wrong, but what you describe would be consistent with this happening--

When the LF got hurt, you tried to drag the pitcher into the LF's spot in the lineup. You then discovered you couldn't, so you make a pitching change and inserted that new pitcher into the game in the LF's spot in the lineup.

Here's what you needed to do--

Instead of dragging the pitcher into the lineup, you needed to just change the DH's position to LF. You'd then have gotten a message that says "The DH will take the field and the pitcher will bat in the place of the replaced player. You will lose the DH for the remainder of the game. Proceed?" You'd have the options of "OK" and "Cancel."

Dutch Alexander · 09-05-2013, 09:01 PM

Actualy I did do that and got the message and I clicked on OK, but the spot in the lineup where my injured player used to be remained blank.
I then tried to drag the pitcher into the empty spot and got the error message.

Dutch Alexander · 09-09-2013, 06:48 AM

Tried it again in a test league and it works as it should. When putting the DH in the field pitcher is automatically inserted in the lineup.
In this game I put the DH Mike Carp at 1B. Got the "attention!" message and after clicking on OK Carp was at 1B and Lester in the lineup instead of Napoli. Not sure what went wrong the other time. Surely it wasn't my fault, that's mathematically impossible.

09-04-2013, 08:40 PM	#1
Dutch Alexander All Star Reserve Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Amsterdam Posts: 711	Giving up the DH Just played a game where one of my outfielder was injured and had to be removed from the game. As the game had turned into a blow-out I had already put some bench players in the game and had no outfielders left. Since I was leading 9-0 I decided to put my DH (a left fielder) in LF, thereby giving up the DH. However I could not put my pitcher in the line-up and could not continue until I made a pitching change and put the new pitcher in the line-up. Is this the actual rule? Do you have to make a pitching change when you put your DH in the field?

09-09-2013, 06:48 AM	#5
Dutch Alexander All Star Reserve Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Amsterdam Posts: 711	Tried it again in a test league and it works as it should. When putting the DH in the field pitcher is automatically inserted in the lineup. In this game I put the DH Mike Carp at 1B. Got the "attention!" message and after clicking on OK Carp was at 1B and Lester in the lineup instead of Napoli. Not sure what went wrong the other time. Surely it wasn't my fault, that's mathematically impossible. Attached Images

09-04-2013, 08:54 PM	#2
VanillaGorilla All Star Starter Join Date: Dec 2011 Posts: 1,371 Blog Entries: 2	This is in conflict with MLB rules for the DH: The Designated Hitter may be used defensively, continuing to bat in the same position in the batting order, but the pitcher must then bat in the place of the substituted defensive player, unless more than one substitution is made, and the manager then must designate their spots in the batting order. Once a Designated Hitter assumes a defensive position this move shall terminate the Designated Hitter role for the remainder of the game. Rules, Regulations and Statistics \| MLB.com: Official info

09-04-2013, 09:18 PM	#3
nyy26wc All Star Reserve Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 679	It appears this is what happened. Correct me if I'm wrong, but what you describe would be consistent with this happening-- When the LF got hurt, you tried to drag the pitcher into the LF's spot in the lineup. You then discovered you couldn't, so you make a pitching change and inserted that new pitcher into the game in the LF's spot in the lineup. Here's what you needed to do-- Instead of dragging the pitcher into the lineup, you needed to just change the DH's position to LF. You'd then have gotten a message that says "The DH will take the field and the pitcher will bat in the place of the replaced player. You will lose the DH for the remainder of the game. Proceed?" You'd have the options of "OK" and "Cancel."

09-05-2013, 09:01 PM	#4
Dutch Alexander All Star Reserve Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Amsterdam Posts: 711	Actualy I did do that and got the message and I clicked on OK, but the spot in the lineup where my injured player used to be remained blank. I then tried to drag the pitcher into the empty spot and got the error message.