Relief Hitters

One of the vocabulary words we discussed during the Baseball in French series here on the blog was frappeur d'urgence, which roughly translates to "emergency hitter". Or, as we better know it here in the States, "pinch hitter". 

 

Our good buddy Chris the Collector left a thought-provoking comment on that post, suggesting that the term "relief hitter" would also make a fair bit of sense. After all, we have relief pitchers, right?

Well, it got me thinking. Relief pitchers are players unto themselves. They take up a roster spot. They're specifically trained to come into the game at some point after it begins, in order to relieve a pitcher who might be struggling.

 

What if teams carried a player specifically for "relief-hitting", too? In other words, this player would take up his own roster spot, never starting a game, signed solely for his relief-hitting skills. Late in the game, when your team really needed a hit, he'd always be ready with bat in hand.

 

Imagine how clutch that guy would have to be? It's a fun thought.

Now like me, I'm sure many of you readers have already started to think that this would never happen. No team would burn a roster spot for a player who would just ride the pine every game until [maybe] the team needed him to step up to the plate to get a hit. Once. Not to mention how difficult it is for a player to do that when he's been sitting around, tight and cold, for a couple of hours. 

 

But wait a minute. Before dismissing the idea entirely, maybe we should think about all the other kooky rules that have been implemented over the past few years. There's a pitch clock. Bases are larger. The team up at bat in extra innings gets a ghost runner on second base. There's a DH in both leagues. Robo-umpires are around the corner. Eventually it's going to become blernsball, anyway.  

 

 

 

 

So why can't relief hitters be a thing?

 

To make it more appealing to the powers that be, maybe we should change the criteria a little bit.

 

Let's say that the relief hitter can be brought into the game no earlier than the 7th inning. The twist is that he's permitted to lead off every inning after that—8th, 9th, and extras if applicable. And he doesn't have to play a fielding position. I'm getting some ideas here. Time to make a list.

Relief Hitter Rules:

• Can enter the game no earlier than 7th inning.

• Must be lead-off batter in every inning after that. (Taking away the at-bat from the hitter in the lineup who would have led off.)
  

• Does not play fielding position during defensive half of inning.

• Must remain in game for at least two innings, unless first at-bat is in 9th inning.

• Must run the bases if he gets on base.

• Can be used as a relief hitter in maximum of two consecutive games. Then must be made unavailable the following game.

• Each team can carry only one relief hitter on its roster.
  

 

That last rule means there's 30 MLB roster spots for those relief hitters to claim. So, who would be good candidates? 

 

Wade Boggs could find the holes, that's for sure. So could Tony Gwynn, who was especially proficient at hitting with two strikes in the count. Ichiro could get on base with line-drives, grounders, infield singles, or bunts at any time. Derek Jeter was pretty good in the clutch. Pete Rose could probably muster up a hit whenever the team really needed one, and he's a switch-hitter, which is a definite asset. Ted Williams and his .400 average would be something. (He'd have a serious intimidation factor on his side too, because he hit for power. Plus, he's got the best on-base percentage in MLB history.) Rod Carew, Edgar Martinez, and Rickey Henderson would be other solid choices. 

 

The problem is, of course, that you'd want all of those folks in your starting lineup. Not as relief hitters.

 

But let's imagine they're winding down their careers, and almost ready to retire. If you were to play them as relief hitters for only the last two or three innings of certain games, it might allow them to stay in the big leagues for an extra couple of years.

 

If the idea were to catch on, I wonder if baseball developmental schools would eventually start looking for young hitters with less power but superior bat control, and start training those guys to be super-good at hitting singles and drawing walks. On the right team, deployed in the right way, they could end up playing up to 90-ish games per season and getting at least an at-bat or two per game, which isn't so bad. 

 

You never know.

In the meantime, because this is a blog about trading cards, here are my top three choices for a relief hitter, featured in cardboard form:

The position designation on the card could be changed to "Relief Hitter", or even "RH".

 

So what do you think? Is it too kooky of an idea to even consider? 

 

Even if that's the case, which player(s) nearing retirement, current or past, would be your choice for relief hitter? 

 

Share in the comment section, and thanks for reading!