This is a question that I don't know how to answer or even really how to attack properly, but I'm guessing folks here may have some thoughts.
With the NL having pitchers hit and the AL having the DH, presumably the optimal construction of a 25 man roster is different for the two leagues.
In my mind, in the AL one really needs to have that one high quality hitter outside of the eight men in the field to play DH--after all he's getting 4 or 5 PAs per game. In the NL, where pinch hitting is more common, it seems intuitive that a team is better served by having a number of decent to good pinch hitters, as oppossed to the one masher who doesn't start the game in the field.
With less need for pinch hitters in the AL, presumably there's more value for the great D no hit catcher, or the just pinch run guy.
Intuitively this seems right to me, but is it? Maybe depth is just generally so important that it doesn't much matter from league to league.
Are there any analyses of this, or does anyone have thoughts on the question?
With the NL having pitchers hit and the AL having the DH, presumably the optimal construction of a 25 man roster is different for the two leagues.
In my mind, in the AL one really needs to have that one high quality hitter outside of the eight men in the field to play DH--after all he's getting 4 or 5 PAs per game. In the NL, where pinch hitting is more common, it seems intuitive that a team is better served by having a number of decent to good pinch hitters, as oppossed to the one masher who doesn't start the game in the field.
With less need for pinch hitters in the AL, presumably there's more value for the great D no hit catcher, or the just pinch run guy.
Intuitively this seems right to me, but is it? Maybe depth is just generally so important that it doesn't much matter from league to league.
Are there any analyses of this, or does anyone have thoughts on the question?