Miami Marlins RTD: #KilltheDH?; Jose Fernandez Return

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Feb 24, 2015; Ft. Myers, FL, USA; Boston Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz (34) during workout drills at JetBlue Park. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Welcome to another Miami Marlins Round Table Discussion. On today’s agenda, we’ll be discussing the recent hot button DH issue, making predictions on the final roster, as well as predicting when Jose Fernandez will return to the mound.

1. There’s a lot of debate currently on the DH issue. Do you think the NL needs to add the DH or should it be dropped all together?

Ehsan Kassim: I have never been a fan of the DH and much prefer the National League, where the pitchers also get to bat. If you play the field, you should bat. If you bat, you should play the field. David Ortiz has made a career out of sitting on the bench on defense and I don’t agree with that. Plus, we would not have moments like this one.

Daniel Zylberkan: I think the game is far more interesting without the DH. The strategy of having to manage your bullpen, pinch hitting and having to think about decisions in advance such as double switches makes the National League game much more interesting. There is also an argument that having the pitcher hit would even speed up the pace of play. There is no question that the NL game is quicker and more interesting and I think baseball could survive a further dip in run scoring if it meant a better and more quick paced game.

Although it is inconceivable to think that the MLBPA would willingly give up 15 high paying DH jobs without a fight. I think the more likely solution would actually be the expansion of the DH to the NL which would extend the careers of even more overweight, injured and defensively limited guys.

Miller Lepree: DH should go one way or the other. I’m a fan of pinch-hitting, and the dynamic it brings to the national league. It also gives managers something to do, and gives us material to make fun of Mike Redmond‘s poor decisions. I say get rid of the DH in both leagues, sorry big papi, but one-dimensional players shouldn’t be able to hide any longer.

David Polakoff: If you asked me this 5 years ago, I would have said the DH needed to be eliminated from both leagues. But with how down offense is around the league, watching the pitcher flounder at the plate is painful. Both leagues should have the DH.

Travis Honeycutt: The DH was a stupid experiment to try to bring artificial action and scoring to the league in a time when baseball was losing popularity. As a result, we now have people like Adam Dunn and David Ortiz looking like superstars while hiding their God awful play in the field. No baseball player should get to forgo the field just because they can’t play defense. It’s a joke, and it sucks. #KillTheDH

Dillon Murrell: If Manfred and MLB are trying to infuse more offense into the game, then the DH should definitely be added to the NL. As far as my opinion on the matter, I think I’d like to see it. The NL and its affiliates are the only places where pitches hit (as far as American baseball goes), so really there isn’t any reason for pitchers to keep hitting.