How the universal DH could impact the Phillies in 2022

Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred confirmed Thursday what many have been expecting since collective bargaining negotiations began in early December: The universal DH will almost certainly be coming in 2022.

With the negotiations ongoing, nothing is finalized, but Major League Baseball and its owners have included the rule change in their upcoming proposal to the players association, which is set to meet with MLB on Saturday.

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Few teams benefit from this change more than the Phillies, who are an offensive-minded team. The ability to take a weaker defender off the field and stick him at DH is an advantage for the Phillies, especially given the current state of their roster. They have below-average defenders at third base, shortstop, first base, and, depending on whether they sign a free-agent corner outfielder, left field.

Among those who struggled the most last season were shortstop Didi Gregorius, who committed 18 errors in 101 games, and Alec Bohm (16 errors in 110 games at third base and first base). A universal DH would enable the Phillies to shift some of those players off their positions, and replace them with better defenders.

For example, the Phillies could slide Rhys Hoskins to DH, Bohm to first base, and place a defense-savvy bench player like Johan Camargo at third. A few games at DH could ease some of the pressure for players like Bohm, Hoskins, and Gregorious to perform defensively, day in and day out.

Another advantage is in getting players with lengthy injury histories off their feet. Catcher J.T. Realmuto enters his age-31 season at a demanding position, and he dealt with a slew of injuries last season, including a fractured thumb and a hand contusion.

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Hoskins and Bryce Harper also struggled with injuries. Hoskins ended his season early after surgery to repair a lower abdominal tear, and Harper dealt with back, shoulder, and wrist injuries, the latter stemming from the ricochet of a pitch that hit him in the face on April 28. The DH option gives manager Joe Girardi an option to rest them on occasion.

At the general managers’ meetings in November, Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said they likely will rotate players at DH rather than settle on one regular hitter at the position.

“Because of how our club shapes up — with Harper, with Realmuto, who’s one of our better hitters, with Hoskins — we kind of like the idea of not having a full-time DH and moving people in there,” he said. “So it doesn’t really affect us maybe as much as somebody else. But we have some guys that we could rest. For example, Realmuto can use those days at DH. Harper could use those days.”

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Dombrowski said in November that he’d talked about the possibility of a universal DH as early as when he first started, in 2020. Because the Phillies are built to rely on their offense, they wouldn’t have to rework their roster around the DH too much. They have plenty of players who could fit that mold, between Harper, Realmuto, Bohm, Hoskins, and any free-agent power-bat acquisitions that they might sign once the lockout ends such as Kris Bryant, Kyle Schwarber, or Michael Conforto.

Their priorities this offseason will still be finding a left fielder and center fielder, adding to their bullpen and rotation depth, and adding a middle-of-the-order bat.