Brian Dowdy has been a Cardinal fan all of his life. Born and raised in Dexter, Brian attended his first game in 1982 and was hooked. He has seen the Cardinals play too many times to count and watched the Cardinals play in Miami, Chicago, Houston, Cleveland and Kansas City and the list is growing.

Any fans of the designated hitter?

Posted Tuesday, June 25, 2013, at 6:29 AM

For years I have always poked fun of friends who roots for a team in the American League because of the designated hitter rule. I would say something like there is no strategy in the AL because of the DH hitting instead of the pitcher. I'mm still a fan of the NL without the DH rule, however with all the interleague games being played on a weekly basis the question comes up: How long before the NL adopts the DH rule?

The Cardinals will begin their second away series being able to use the DH today against the Astros. So that brings up the question: Where is Matt Adams? I realize our everyday lineup is packed with good hitters and having a bat like Adams on the bench is a big time plus. On the flip side, having his bat in the lineup everyday with the DH will make our lineup much better. I know I was just talking about not liking the DH but I think I would like to see Adams in the lineup on a regular basis.

Another advantage, or disadvantage depending on how you look at it, is the ability to carry an extra pitcher because the need for an extra bench player is unnecessary. That would be good to carry an extra long man and keep your starters fresh by giving them an extra day off on long road trips. Generally speaking the DH just means more offense and that is what it boils down to. Do you like lots of runs or pitching duels?

Lets not get into a rush here because it will not be an easy change nor will it be a quick one. The current collective bargaining agreement does not expire until Dec. 1, 2016 and then the majority of all the owners will have to agree to this change. So until then we will have to be creative on how we use Adams. I think with the power he has, he needs to be playing more. But who sits? It is a catch-22 for manager Mike Matheny because the everyday lineup as earlier stated is a good one and everyone is hitting well. In an earlier blog I thought Yadi needs more time off and the same could be said for Carlos Beltran, who is the oldest of the position players beating out Ty Wigginton by five months. The current plan in my opinion isn't giving Beltran enough time off and not giving Adams enough starts. I would guess that the decision to keep the same lineup so often works the same as the saying "if it ain't broke don't fix it".

So while we wait to see what happens over the next few seasons with the DH rule coming to the NL I will be poking fun at the AL. What do you think?