Pitchers batting: Why aren't you an idiot for wanting this?

Defend yourselves.  It's indefensible.  It's not entertaining.  Spare us the obligatory Bartolo Colon is so funny looking ridiculous at the plate.  Who wants to watch any sporting event in which one player is so over matched?  There is no strategy or tactic that justifies it.  Obviously, managers gave up on evaluating pitchers on their ability to hit over a hundred years ago.  Check out Connie Mack, who raised the idea of a DH in 1906.  See the featured post at the top right about having only eight batters and a designated fielder.  Geez, come on.  This is basic stuff.  It doesn't need to be studied and then maybe phased in over several years.  Just do it ... in 2016.  Eight men bat!

Pitchers in 2015 with at least 50 plate appearances, sorted by OPS+

Rk	Player	OPS+	PA	Year	Age	Tm	Lg	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	SH	SF	GDP	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	Pos
1	Madison Bumgarner	101	81	2015	25	SFG	NL	36	77	9	19	2	0	5	9	3	0	27	0	1	0	1	0	0	.247	.275	.468	.743	*1/H
2	Tyson Ross	80	68	2015	28	SDP	NL	34	56	6	14	1	1	1	6	2	0	19	1	8	1	1	0	0	.250	.283	.357	.640	*1/H
3	Zack Greinke	58	77	2015	31	LAD	NL	32	67	8	15	2	0	2	3	1	0	14	0	8	1	0	1	0	.224	.232	.343	.575	*1
4	Noah Syndergaard	47	50	2015	22	NYM	NL	24	43	2	9	1	0	1	4	1	0	26	0	6	0	0	0	0	.209	.227	.302	.530	*1
5	Chris Rusin	27	50	2015	28	COL	NL	27	46	5	10	0	0	1	4	0	0	7	0	4	0	0	0	0	.217	.217	.283	.500	*1/H
6	Jon Niese	25	60	2015	28	NYM	NL	33	52	5	9	1	0	0	4	5	0	18	0	3	0	0	0	0	.173	.246	.192	.438	*1
7	Max Scherzer	25	77	2015	30	WSN	NL	34	69	4	15	0	0	0	0	2	0	23	0	6	0	0	0	0	.217	.239	.217	.457	*1/H
8	Jacob deGrom	22	66	2015	27	NYM	NL	31	59	3	11	1	0	0	4	3	0	16	0	4	0	4	0	0	.186	.226	.203	.429	*1/H
9	Alex Wood	19	67	2015	24	TOT	NL	32	55	2	9	2	0	0	4	4	0	34	0	8	0	2	0	0	.164	.220	.200	.420	*1
10	Chris Heston	19	58	2015	27	SFG	NL	31	51	1	10	2	0	0	3	0	0	18	0	7	0	1	0	0	.196	.196	.235	.431	*1
11	Jake Arrieta	15	83	2015	29	CHC	NL	33	79	5	12	1	1	2	2	1	0	45	0	3	0	1	0	0	.152	.163	.266	.428	*1
12	Francisco Liriano	13	67	2015	31	PIT	NL	31	65	4	11	2	0	1	7	0	0	28	0	2	0	0	0	0	.169	.169	.246	.415	*1
13	Michael Wacha	7	62	2015	23	STL	NL	30	52	5	8	1	0	0	4	4	0	20	0	6	0	0	1	0	.154	.214	.173	.387	*1
14	Anthony DeSclafani	2	64	2015	25	CIN	NL	31	58	1	9	1	0	0	3	3	0	33	0	2	1	0	0	0	.155	.194	.172	.366	*1
15	Aaron Harang	2	58	2015	37	PHI	NL	29	48	4	8	1	0	0	0	1	0	18	0	9	0	2	0	0	.167	.184	.188	.371	*1
16	Jason Hammel	0	70	2015	32	CHC	NL	32	65	6	11	1	0	0	4	1	0	18	0	3	1	1	0	0	.169	.179	.185	.364	*1/H
17	Dan Haren	-3	65	2015	34	TOT	NL	33	49	4	6	1	0	0	5	5	0	16	0	10	1	2	0	0	.122	.200	.143	.343	*1/H
18	Lance Lynn	-3	55	2015	28	STL	NL	31	50	3	8	2	0	0	1	0	0	26	0	5	0	0	0	0	.160	.160	.200	.360	*1
19	Mike Leake	-4	73	2015	27	TOT	NL	37	69	4	8	3	0	2	8	0	0	36	0	4	0	0	0	0	.116	.116	.246	.362	*1/H
20	Carlos Martinez	-4	63	2015	23	STL	NL	32	56	2	8	2	0	0	0	1	0	23	1	5	0	1	0	0	.143	.172	.179	.351	*1/H
21	Gerrit Cole	-8	71	2015	24	PIT	NL	33	60	5	9	0	0	0	2	2	0	28	0	9	0	0	0	0	.150	.177	.150	.327	*1/H
22	Jordan Zimmermann	-10	69	2015	29	WSN	NL	33	63	4	10	1	0	0	3	0	0	18	0	6	0	0	0	0	.159	.159	.175	.333	*1
23	Clayton Kershaw	-11	79	2015	27	LAD	NL	34	71	2	9	2	0	0	2	2	0	23	1	5	0	2	0	0	.127	.162	.155	.317	*1/H
24	James Shields	-13	74	2015	33	SDP	NL	36	68	7	9	2	0	0	2	1	0	28	0	5	0	0	0	0	.132	.145	.162	.307	*1/H
25	Bartolo Colon	-14	64	2015	42	NYM	NL	33	58	2	8	1	0	0	4	0	0	24	1	4	1	2	0	0	.138	.150	.155	.305	*1
Rk	Player	OPS+	PA	Year	Age	Tm	Lg	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	SH	SF	GDP	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	Pos
26	John Lackey	-14	70	2015	36	STL	NL	33	62	0	7	2	0	0	3	4	0	24	0	4	0	2	0	0	.113	.167	.145	.312	*1
27	A.J. Burnett	-17	52	2015	38	PIT	NL	26	42	1	5	0	0	1	5	0	0	20	0	9	1	1	0	0	.119	.116	.190	.307	*1
28	Tom Koehler	-18	64	2015	29	MIA	NL	32	50	2	6	1	0	0	1	2	0	28	0	12	0	1	0	0	.120	.154	.140	.294	*1
29	Brett Anderson	-19	61	2015	27	LAD	NL	31	47	1	4	1	0	0	3	5	0	32	0	9	0	2	0	0	.085	.173	.106	.279	*1
30	Matt Harvey	-20	66	2015	26	NYM	NL	29	65	1	7	2	0	1	7	0	0	31	0	1	0	2	0	0	.108	.108	.185	.292	*1
31	Gio Gonzalez	-26	56	2015	29	WSN	NL	31	43	1	4	1	0	0	2	1	0	18	2	10	0	1	0	0	.093	.152	.116	.268	*1
32	Jimmy Nelson	-31	59	2015	26	MIL	NL	30	55	1	6	1	0	0	2	1	0	34	0	3	0	0	0	0	.109	.125	.127	.252	*1
33	Julio Teheran	-35	68	2015	24	ATL	NL	33	52	0	5	0	0	0	2	2	0	9	0	14	0	0	0	0	.096	.130	.096	.226	*1
34	Chase Anderson	-38	57	2015	27	ARI	NL	28	48	0	5	0	0	0	3	1	0	23	0	8	0	2	0	0	.104	.122	.104	.227	*1/H
35	Shelby Miller	-41	71	2015	24	ATL	NL	33	56	1	3	2	0	0	0	4	0	29	0	11	0	0	0	0	.054	.117	.089	.206	*1
36	Jeff Locke	-45	54	2015	27	PIT	NL	30	45	1	3	1	0	0	2	2	0	18	0	7	0	1	0	0	.067	.106	.089	.195	*1
37	Andrew Cashner	-48	61	2015	28	SDP	NL	38	60	2	5	0	0	0	1	1	0	24	0	0	0	0	0	0	.083	.098	.083	.182	*1/H
38	Rubby De La Rosa	-49	68	2015	26	ARI	NL	32	64	3	6	0	0	0	2	0	0	25	0	4	0	0	0	0	.094	.094	.094	.188	*1
39	Jon Lester	-51	71	2015	31	CHC	NL	32	62	6	4	0	0	0	0	3	0	30	0	6	0	1	0	0	.065	.108	.065	.172	*1
40	Kyle Hendricks	-64	64	2015	25	CHC	NL	32	60	2	3	1	0	0	1	1	0	24	0	3	0	2	0	0	.050	.066	.067	.132	*1
41	Jorge De La Rosa	-68	50	2015	34	COL	NL	26	48	0	3	0	0	0	3	0	0	18	0	2	0	1	0	0	.063	.063	.063	.125	*1

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 1/21/2016.