Baseball Designated Hitter Rule: Lineups, Substitutions and Pitchers
Major League Baseball’s designated hitter bats in place of the pitcher while the pitcher remains one of the nine defensive players. The DH is fixed in one lineup position and substitutes inherit the role.
Timeline
- 1973: The American League adopted the designated hitter.
- 2022: The National League adopted the DH under the 2022–26 collective bargaining agreement, and MLB added the starting-pitcher-as-DH flexibility.
- 2026-10-13: The 2026 Official Baseball Rules and current MLB explanations were reviewed for this guide.
The designated hitter, or DH, is a player assigned a batting-order spot in place of the pitcher. Under Major League Baseball Rule 5.11, the pitcher still plays defense as one of the nine fielders while the DH supplies the plate appearances that would otherwise belong to the pitcher’s spot. This creates ten names in the normal starting arrangement: nine defensive players, with the pitcher included, plus a DH who bats but ordinarily does not field. The DH is a lineup role rather than a permanent label attached to one specialist. A club can rotate different players through that role across games, and substitutions can transfer it during a game. [1][2]
The club must choose the DH before the game and identify that player on the lineup card. Using one is optional, but a club that declines to designate a DH before play cannot introduce one later in that game. The named starting DH must bat at least once unless the opposing club changes pitchers first. Like every other hitter, the DH is locked into one batting-order position; a manager cannot use multiple substitutions simply to move that slot to a more convenient point in the order. The scorebook therefore follows the slot even when the person occupying it changes. [1][2]
A pinch-hitter may replace the DH, and that substitute becomes the new DH. A pinch-runner can replace the DH and likewise assumes the role; the original DH is removed and cannot re-enter under MLB substitution rules. The rule-book phrase that a DH “may not pinch-run” means the active DH cannot serve as a pinch-runner for someone else while retaining the DH job. It does not prohibit using a faster runner for the DH. The practical question after any substitution is who now occupies the designated batting slot, not whether that player was introduced as a hitter, runner or conventional DH. [1][2]
The DH can enter the field on defense, but doing so normally terminates the DH role for that club for the rest of the game. The former DH keeps the same batting-order position while playing defense, and the pitcher must enter the batting order in the place of the removed defensive player unless a multiple substitution requires the manager to designate the affected spots. Other moves also end the DH: moving the game pitcher from the mound to another defensive position, having the pitcher bat or run for the DH, or having a position player enter to pitch in the situations listed by Rule 5.11. Once terminated, the DH cannot be restored later that game. [1][2]
Rule 5.11(b) creates the major exception for a starting pitcher who also bats as the DH. The manager lists that player twice on the initial lineup card—once as starting pitcher and once in the DH batting slot—and the rules treat the two functions separately. If the player is removed from the mound, he may remain in the game as DH but cannot return to pitch. If a substitute replaces him as DH, he may continue pitching but no longer bats for himself. If he is replaced in both roles, a new two-way player cannot take over both as two separate persons; the dual listing is available only for the original starter. [1][2][5]
The two-role rule is often called the “Ohtani rule,” but it is broader than one athlete and should not be confused with roster designation as a two-way player. For game administration, Rule 5.11(b) is about how one starting player appears in two lineup functions. That player’s own plate appearance or baserunning as the listed DH does not terminate the team’s DH, nor does the listed DH assuming the mound role. Moving that player from pitcher or DH to another defensive position does terminate the DH for the club. Broadcast graphics may show one name once, so the official lineup and substitution announcement control. [1][2][5]
MLB did not always use the same DH rule in both leagues. The American League adopted it in 1973, while National League pitchers generally continued batting until the National League adopted the DH through the 2022–26 collective bargaining agreement; a universal exception had also operated during the shortened 2020 season. Since 2022, “American League rules” versus “National League rules” no longer tells viewers whether MLB uses a DH. Other baseball organizations and tournaments can choose different provisions. The 2026 World Baseball Classic, for example, expressly adopted Official Baseball Rule 5.11 while listing its other tournament modifications separately. [2][3][4][6]
When a broadcast says a team has “lost the DH,” trace the actual move. Identify the current DH slot, the current pitcher and any defensive position the DH or pitcher entered. Then ask whether the starting player was listed under Rule 5.11(b) in both roles. A routine pitching change leaves the ordinary DH intact; a pinch-hitter for the DH simply becomes the DH. By contrast, putting the DH on defense or making one of the rule’s pitcher-position moves can force the pitcher into the order and permanently end the role. This lineup-based method avoids the two most common errors: assuming the DH can never field and assuming every removal of a pitcher removes the hitter listed in that slot. [1][2]
Sources
- Major League Baseball — 2026 Official Baseball Rules
- MLB Glossary — Designated Hitter Rule
- MLB — Dan Driessen and the National League Designated Hitter
- MLB — National League Teams and the Universal DH in 2022
- MLB — Starting Pitcher and Designated Hitter Rule Change
- MLB — 2026 World Baseball Classic Rules and Modifications