ESPN reporter: 'It's only a matter of time' before National League adopts DH

Yankees relief pitcher Dellin Betances did his best Gary Sheffield imitation while batting on Monday night, and ... hold on, why was he at the plate?

The Yankees were playing in Philadelphia, so National League rules were in effect.

Betances struck out, but not before getting in his hacks and it made for a funny moment.

But ESPN's Buster Olney said Tuesday that executives around baseball aren't thrilled to see pitchers batting, and that could mean that very soon both leagues have the designated hitter in Major League Baseball.

"It's only a matter of time before the National League rules go away and both leagues have the designated hitter," Olney said on ESPN's "Get Up" program. "Because they were laughing about that moment, well a couple weeks ago Masahiro Tanaka was running the bases, the Yankees pitcher, he strained both hamstrings, he had to go on the disabled list.

"So the conversation among executives about the DH is very much like it was four or five years ago about home-plate collisions. They don't see putting players at risk, high assets at risk for outlier plays. Pitchers batting is an outlier play and that's why eventually ... the National League rules will go away and I think it'll be within three to five years."

You can watch hear more of what Olney said here.

This story was originally published June 26, 2018 at 1:39 PM.