Chicago Cubs: Top candidates to serve as the team’s designated hitter

If baseball is played this year, it seems likely the National League will adopt the designated hitter. How would that impact the Chicago Cubs lineup in 2020?

For years, fans, writers and really all who love the game of baseball have debated whether or not the National League should ever adopt the designated hitter. Of course, it’s been a fixture in American League baseball since 1973 – but the Senior Circuit, including the Chicago Cubs, have opted to stick with the traditional approach of pitchers batting for themselves.

But according to multiple reports, if there’s baseball in 2020, the league will not have a choice about the DH – as it would be universally implemented across all of Major League Baseball as a way to prevent injury and potentially keep pitchers fresh over the course of a proposed 82-game shortened schedule.

Really, this should come as a surprise to no one. It makes sense. So supposing that we do see the designated hitter come to the National League, at least in the interim, this summer, what does that mean? For the Chicago Cubs, it may not be as cut-and-dry as you might initially think.

Believe it or not, the Cubs could go in several different directions, depending on what the front office and first-year manager David Ross have in mind. There’s one guy who makes a lot of sense given the qualms about his defense – but Chicago should consider some alternatives, as well.