With the regular season winding down, the Michigan baseball team has redefined its designated hitter position to produce some of its most explosive results yet. While its lineup has long prided itself on a small-ball approach to hitting, power-packed at-bats from the Wolverines’ designated hitters have spurred on some of their’ most cinematic comebacks of conference play.
Six different players have slotted into the designated hitter position over the course of the season, but redshirt sophomore Cooper Mullens and junior Cade Ladehoff lead in starts with 10 and 16, respectively. After debuting as a starter against Northwestern April 17, junior Joonsung Park has played six of the last eight as designated hitter.
Whoever occupied the spot, Michigan didn’t visibly benefit from its designated hitters for a bulk of the early season, particularly in close games that demanded production. In the eleventh inning against California State Northridge March 3, Ladehoff was retired like the Wolverines hitters before him and couldn’t extend the inning or a lead. The poor timing followed Ladehoff to Game 2 against Pepperdine March 6, where he struck out with the score tied in the eighth inning. When Michigan trailed Rutgers by one run March 27, junior designated hitter Brenden Stressler also became the final strikeout in the final inning.
“We were just getting zero production out of (the designated hitter spot),” Wolverines coach Tracy Smith said April 25. “Then, we inserted Cooper, because these guys have earned it. Even back to Joon, they put the work in, just like everybody else. They weren’t getting at-bats early. And I’m sitting around going, ‘You know what? We’re not getting the production. This guy deserves an opportunity.’ ”
Those opportunities were key to allowing Mullens and Park to flourish. Mullens hit the ground running in his first start, Game 2 against Rutgers March 28. He went 2-for-5 from the plate, scoring on each of his hits, which included a double. But where Mullens first lived up to the pressure of his position was in the final pitch of Game 3 against now-No. 13 Oregon.
Michigan had seen close games in the past where its designated hitters were retired along with the rest of the lineup, leaving runners on base. With two outs in the ninth inning and the bases loaded April 4, Mullens seemed destined for the same fate. Instead, he swung on his first pitch and singled for two RBIs — and the walk-off for a series win over one of the highest-ranked teams in the conference.
Park followed in Mullens’ footsteps a few weeks later in two consecutive wins against Washington. Although Mullens was the starting designated hitter, Park entered Game 1 as a pinch hitter in the final inning and Game 2 as designated hitter in place of Mullens.
In Game 1, Park entered at the last second with the Wolverines down two runs. He waited on his first two pitches, then hit a double that bounced at the left-center wall for three RBIs and the win. Facing the same exact deficit in the second game, Park bounced another double to the wall for two RBIs, tying up the score.
“Joon has always been a guy that’s had power, and it’s real power,” Smith said April 18. “We’ve been striking out at the DH spot. We’ve not been getting a lot of power.”
The game-tying double from Park put Michigan back in the game and lowered the stakes for the rest of the lineup. It opened the door for Ladehoff to make the series-clinching RBI single. Although the bases were loaded, Ladehoff didn’t need to hit a grand slam or even a double to secure the Wolverines’ win — production from the designated hitter spot insured him.
“Sometimes I actually feel like it’s easier to play in the field than DH, because playing in the field, you’re moving around, you’re in the flow of the game a little more,” Ladehoff said April 25 after the series win. “It actually helps me hit more. … Everyone’s a little different.”
Shifting the designated hitter position around the roster had ramifications beyond a single lineup spot. Ladehoff’s production has risen since starting at first base in eight of the last nine games, while Michigan is simultaneously seeing consistency from its designated hitters.
For Michigan, the designated hitter position had blended into the rest of the lineup for much of its year. Then, something clicked. When Mullens and Park were afforded the opportunity to start, they capitalized on it. From there, the rest of the lineup started shining as well.
