Editing Designated hitter (section)

{{Short description|Offensive position in baseball and softball}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2021}}
[[File:Edgar Martinez 1997.jpg|thumb|[[Edgar Martínez]], who spent most of his career as the full-time designated hitter for the [[Seattle Mariners]], was inducted into the [[National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum|Hall of Fame]] in 2019.<ref name="Edgar HOF elected">{{Cite web |url=https://www.mlb.com/news/edgar-martinez-elected-into-hall-of-fame-c303001174 |title=Edgar elected into HOF in final year of eligibility |last=Johns |first=Greg |date=January 22, 2019 |website=MLB.com |language=en |access-date=May 11, 2019}}</ref>]]

The '''designated hitter''' ('''DH''') is a [[baseball]] player who bats in place of another position player, most commonly the [[pitcher]]. Unlike other players in a team's lineup, they generally only play as an offensive player and usually do not play defense as a [[Fielding (baseball)|fielder]] or a [[pitcher]] during a game. Due to their specialized offensive-only role, the designated hitter is generally expected to produce above average offensive stats and production compared to other players who play defense.<ref name="Designated Hitter {{!}} Glossary">{{Cite web |title=Designated Hitter {{!}} Glossary |url=https://www.mlb.com/glossary/positions/designated-hitter |access-date=2024-10-06 |website=MLB.com |language=en}}</ref>

In [[Major League Baseball]], the position is authorized by Rule 5.11 of the Official Baseball Rules.<ref name="baseball rules (5.11 and otherwise)">{{Cite web|url=http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/downloads/y2015/official_baseball_rules.pdf |title=Official Baseball Rules 2015 edition|date=December 10, 2014|access-date=October 4, 2015}}</ref> It was adopted by the [[American League]] in {{mlby|1973}} and by the [[National League (baseball)|National League]] in {{mlby|2022}}, making it universal in MLB.<ref name="SI Wulf" /> Within that time frame, nearly all [[amateur baseball|amateur]], [[college baseball|collegiate]], and [[professional baseball|professional]] leagues worldwide have adopted the designated hitter or some variant,<ref>{{cite book|last=Alexander|first=Charles C.|title=Our Game: An American Baseball History|publisher=Macmillan|year=1991|page=[https://archive.org/details/ourgameamerican000alex/page/290 290]|isbn=9780805015942|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/ourgameamerican000alex/page/290}}</ref> except for [[Nippon Professional Baseball]]'s [[Central League]].<ref name="central and national league no DH">{{Cite web |url=https://www.mlb.com/news/national-league-could-add-dh-before-long/c-162404308 |title=Tide is turning toward a universal DH |last=Ringolsby |first=Tracy |date=January 20, 2016 |publisher=Major League Baseball |access-date=April 22, 2018}}</ref>