When Major League Baseball adopted the designated hitter for the National League as a unique measure for the abbreviated 60-game season last year, I mourned the passage of pitchers hitting for themselves. It's not that I enjoy it, or consider DH-less baseball the way the game should be played -- it's more that no other sport has two equal leagues differentiated by a rule that so dramatically transforms the strategy, and I welcome the incongruity, at least in small doses. Sometimes when there's no good reason for something existing, that's every reason to keep it in existence. Nature doesn't often allow takebacks.
It turns out I was premature in anticipating universal DH, because MLB held out on adopting it for the 162-game season. The league sees it as a concession to offer players during CBA negotiations because it creates extra jobs for position(less) players, so it didn't just want to give it away without getting something in return. Against all common sense, pitchers still have to hit for themselves in NL parks, and "against all common sense" is the only way it can be done.
And thank goodness, because look what unfolded on Tuesday night. Fans came into the evening annoyed that Yermín Mercedes was again sidelined by a rulebook, this one more established than Tony La Russa's. Those same fans were rewarded for their patience with a 3-for-3 night by Dylan Cease, a guy who said he hadn't faced live pitching since high school.
And they weren't cheap hits! The first one was a lucky infield single, but Cease created his own luck. He's the guy who got on top of a 93-mph fastball above the zone with enough conviction to generate a hop so high that Mike Moustakas couldn't do anything with it.
Cease's swing looked strong enough that when he came to the plate the next time, I'd assumed that he and Joe McEwing had something up their sleeves. NBC Sports Chicago missed this entirely because Jason Benetti and Len Kasper were discussing the #SoxMath question and "WKRP in Cincinnati," but because Nashville is in Cincinnati territory, I had the Reds' broadcast, which showed a masked McEwing telling something Cease more complicated than "bunt him over."
Just two guys discussing how they're going to bunt in a normal bunting situation. Yessir, nothing to see here but a bunt. for. sure. pic.twitter.com/SnF6BndE2k
— Jim Margalus (@SoxMachine) May 5, 2021
McEwing's message was probably something along the lines of "butcher boy if you're feeling frisky," and Cease delivered.
One could argue whether it was a true butcher boy, because usually it's intended for punching a single through a compromised infield, not blasting a fly over the head of an outfielder. Cease's was less butcher boy and more Butcher Man, and whatever the name, it now enters the pantheon of White Sox pitcher hitting moments in the DH era, alongside the Mark Buehrle/Jon Garland homers and the double by Matt Albers.
The only problem was that Cease pitched a helluva game as well. Instead of getting the opportunity to leave on a high note, he had to come to the plate one more time. Fortunately, he alleviated that potential issue by lining a sinker into right field for his third and final hit, after taking the first pitch for a ball.
I'm not sure why Cincinnati didn't respect him enough to throw him a secondary pitch after he rope-a-doped them the inning before, but I'm forever grateful that Cease finished his night batting 1.000 for his career. What's more: He converted every strike he saw into a hit, and swung at nothing that he couldn't use. He only caught what he intended to eat, and it was enough to feast.
I'm kinda torn on where to go from here. Part of me wants to see Cease enter today's game as pinch hitter, preferably with the White Sox having another huge lead. Can he hit a breaking ball? Did he inspire enough fear to draw a walk? I'd like to know the answer to those questions and more.
Another part of me never wants to see Cease hit again, because he's the only player in White Sox history with a career average of 1.000 after more than two trips to the plate. John Paciorek, the brother of Tom who went 3-for-3 with two walks as an 18-year-old playing his first and only game, is the only MLB player to ride that bronco for longer.
But if Cease never comes to the plate from here on out, it either means that he followed Paciorek's path a little too closely, or it's because MLB shut the door on pitchers hitting for themselves. The former is way worse than the latter, but both would be sad. I don't watch baseball to watch pitchers hit, but I watch baseball to be surprised, and an American League pitcher with a bat in his hands is still the most reliable source.
(Photo by John Cordes/Icon Sportswire)
