On August 16th, 2015, Madison Bumgarner did it all as he threw a three-hit shutout to defeat the Nationals, 5 – 0 (to improve his record to 14-6). The Giants ace had 14 strikeouts, matching a career best. But he also hit a double and a homer, his fourth long ball of the season, to help his own cause. For the Nats, it was a 6th straight loss, and they fell below .500 for the first time since May 6th, when they were 14-15.

The Designated Hitter rule was established in the American League in 1973. and the National League held off as long as they could, but in the end, it was inevitable. Beginning in the 2022 season, no Major League pitcher bats for himself anymore.

For the most part, not having to watch pitchers bat is a positive thing. It was painful watching someone who had no business in the batters box flailing away at a 95-mph slider. It was ugly.

There were always pitchers however that could hit a little. MadBum was one of them. .

According to Baseball Reference the pitchers with the best batting averages between 1973 (when the American League adopted the Designated Hitter) and 2022 (when the National finally adopted the Designated Hitter) are:

Number 1 on the list is no surprise. Orel Hershiser (aka “The Bulldog) was a work horse, leading the league in innings-pitched 3 times. He was always known as a great hitter as well as a great pitcher.

Mark Portugal, number 2 on the list with a .354 batting average in 1994, is a surprise though. Portugal began his career with the American League Twins. I got to see him pitch in the Metrodome a lot but never got to see him in the batter’s box. I had no idea he could hit.

Going down the list, a few other names stand out: Fernando Valenzuela, Zack Greinke, and Jim Rooker.

A lot is made by the various stat-forward podcasts I listen to about the “unicorn” Shohei Ohtani. One podcaster in particular can’t seem to string two sentences together without mentioning Ohtani.

Reading this list reminds me that Ohtani is really not as much of a unicorn as he is sometime made out to be. He just happens to be able to hit for power.