Why can't Adam Dunn hit?

[Sooga]

What is the deal with Adam Dunn? Do you guys realize that he's only had 2 seasons with a BA above .250? I mean yea, batting average is kind of a hollow stat, but < .250 is another thing entirely. He strikes out a ton, but he also walks a ton, and hits a ton of homers, which boosts his OBP and SLG, which put altogether adds up to a career OPS of .904. And a career BA of .247. The fact that he walks so much tells me that he has a pretty good grasp of the strike zone, and isn't just blindly taking monster whacks at everything. But god... And he's not just homers either. He'll hit about 30 doubles a year as well. So what's the problem? With his .900+ career OPS, he's a good hitter, but if he could get his BA even up to, say, .280, he'd be a real force at the plate, and probably drive in a ton more runs too.

I think Adam Dunn is the most unique hitter in baseball right now. Granted I'm pretty young and don't know a lot of baseball history, but I don't know who I could even compare him to all-time, much less active. Maybe Rob Deer? But even then, Deer's power wasn't like Dunn's, and his OBP wasn't anywhere close either.

[THAY3R]

He's very selective when he swings, and when he swings he swings very hard. Thus, he has a low batting average, lots of strikeouts, and is a fantastic hitter.

[HLMencken]

Because he thinks he is a Thursday night beer league softball player.

[THAY3R]

Interesting fact :

Adam Dunn has a higher Career On-Base Percentage than Ichiro.

[HLMencken]

[ QUOTE ]
Interesting fact :

Adam Dunn has a higher Career On-Base Percentage than Ichiro.

[/ QUOTE ]

There ya go! Adam Dunn must be a better leadoff hitter!

(How again was Joe Morgan wrong...?)

[Sooga]

Hey don't get me wrong, he's a great hitter. But if he could manage a few more hits here and there, his BA would go up, his RBI's would go up, and he'd be an elite hitter.

[THAY3R]

I'm pretty sure if he could get his BA up without sacrificing his power and walks, he would have already.

And he can already be considered an elite hitter depending on your definition of elite.

[Sooga]

'Elite' to me are hitters like Pujols, Hafner, Cabrera, Manny, Berkman.... OPS machines who hit for average and obp and slugging. Dunn is clearly not a part of that group.

[HLMencken]

[ QUOTE ]
[Dunn] can already be considered an elite hitter depending on your definition of elite.

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And you think Joe Morgan says dumb things... lol.

[THAY3R]

Fair enough. I don't think he'll ever be among the top 5 offensive players.
He's already 26 so I'm pretty sure what you see is what you're going to get. He's still an extremely productive hitter.