what is a dh

In the context of baseball, DH stands for designated hitter. The designated hitter is a baseball player who bats in place of another position player, most commonly the pitcher. The DH rule was adopted by the American League in 1973 and was later adopted by the National League in 2022 as part of the collective bargaining agreement. The DH must be selected prior to the game, and that selected hitter must come to bat at least one time, unless the opposing team changes pitchers prior to that point. If a player serving as the DH is later used on defense, he continues to bat in his same lineup spot. But for the rest of the game, his team cannot use a DH to bat in place of the pitcher.