Article: 2024 Chicago Cubs Positional Preview: Designated Hitter

[Josh Illes]

We've gone around the diamond. Now, let's preview the 2024 Chicago Cubs' designated hitter situation.

Image courtesy of © Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

Looking at this 2024 Cubs lineup, we see a good, healthy mix of certainty and doubt. The middle infield is basically written in stone. Corner outfield? Same. The catcher combo is locked in and looking good. We all assume that Cody Bellinger will be patrolling center field more often than not. We then come to the corner infielders, which we are being led to believe are locked up, with Christopher Morel at third and Michael Busch at first. The degree of certainty here definitely goes down, but the plan seems relatively certain.

After that we come to the most fluid position of them all: designated hitter, a spot that is purposefully the most in-doubt of them all, with quite a few options for manager Craig Counsell to choose from on a game-to-game basis. Let’s dive into how Counsell is likely to approach the position, and what options he has from which to choose.

We have some indication on how Counsell plans on using the DH from the man himself, via quotes he gave at the outset of Spring Training.

“It’s the position I’ve thought the least about," Counsell said on Mar. 2, in response to a question about DH duties. "That probably means that it’s going to be a bunch of guys. Right now I’m viewing it as very open and uncommitted.”

Counsell’s past managerial history shows just that. While he was manager of the Milwaukee Brewers, and when the DH was an option for him, he utilized it in quite a few different ways. Occasionally, he would use it to get his backup catcher some at-bats (or, last year, to get star backstop William Contreras's bat into the lineup without asking him to catch every day). Sometimes he would use it to rotate four outfielders into three spots. There were times he would use it to make sure his infielders got a day off here and there.

There were also some stretches where he had a true DH, like a Rowdy Tellez or a Daniel Vogelbach, that he would slot into the position for a month or so at a time. The fact that he never stuck with the true DH for more than parts of a season leads me to believe that is not his preferred way of doing things, though. It appears that what he likes to do is leave the spot available to rest and rotate his everyday players, and that is what we should expect to see this season.

Potential Options
Now that the roster is set for Opening Day, I expect some patterns to emerge based on the opposing starting pitcher that day.

First, there are only so many left-handed hitters for Counsell to choose from, so against a right-handed starting pitcher, look for one of the trio of Bellinger, Mike Tauchman, and Michael Busch to be in that DH spot almost every time, while the other two are in center field and at first base. Miles Mastrobuoni will be a bench option from the left side, and David Peralta could work his way into the mix once fully healthy, but at this point that doesn’t appear likely. How much variance we see here will tell us if Counsell is using this spot to rest guys in the field or if he has a preferred option. 

The next pattern we should look for is the lineup against left-handed starters. Garrett Cooper will make the roster. Until very recently, it seemed as though Alexander Canario would make it as well. Unfortunately, he was the last hitter optioned to the minors, and presumably will be the first one called up if the team finds itself in need of some slugging. So, Cooper represents the right-handed bench bat that will see a bump in playing time in those matchups against lefties, either at DH or at first base.

Lastly, I do think Counsell will occasionally allow his second catcher to get some extra at-bats by slotting them in at DH. I don’t think it will happen as much as it happened under David Ross, who loved this move, but Counsell did use this tactic in Milwaukee a bit.

The bottom line is that DH will remain fluid throughout the season, not necessarily because it will be an afterthought, but because there are tactical reasons to give guys days off and keep them rested, and it looks like Craig Counsell is going to do just that.

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Is there someone you feel should be the DH on more of a daily basis? Or do you like the idea of having some flexibility? Let me know in the comments.

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