Could The Washington Nationals Be Playing With A DH In The Near Future?

With John Mozeliak’s comments this past weekend, how would the Washington Nationals’ lineup look in 2016 if they used a designated hitter?

Over the last couple of seasons in Major League Baseball, there has been an InterLeague matchup every day between the American League and National League. Now, could the National League be getting a designated hitter a few years from now? There were some interesting comments made by St. Louis Cardinals’ general manager John Mozeliak over the weekend about how more people are thinking there’s a possiblity the NL should adopt the DH. Here are some of his comments:

"“Over the past year it has. I’m not suggesting you’re going to see a change but I definitely think the momentum (has changed)”. (h/t Derrick Goold, St. Louis Post Dispatch)"

More from District on Deck

For me, I’ve always been in favor of adding the designated hitter in both leagues because while some of the at-bats by pitchers can be entertaining (i.e Bartolo Colon), most of the time it is an easy out for the opposing pitcher. Plus, if a pitcher does get hurt, I would rather he get hurt pitching than swinging a bat or running the bases.

However, both Max Scherzer and Jordan Zimmermann finished in the top ten in all of baseball in 2015 for hits by a pitcher. Scherzer was tied with Zack Greinke for second with 15 hits. Plus, Nats’ pitchers finished with 51 total hits, which was one hit behind the Mets for the most in the majors (52).