Why can't Adam Dunn hit? - Page 9

RR · #81 07-07-2006, 11:31 PM

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I think a lot of Adam Dunn's low average comes from batting sixth a lot of the time. Sometimes he hits second and every is "suprised" he gets some hits with Griffey coming up after him.

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chicken and the egg... if he could hit for avg, he wouldn't EVER bat 6th to begin with.

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This is true, but I love him hitting second with Griffey behind him. Does anyone know of a site to look of states by position in order? I would love to take a look at his BA by position in the batting order. It seems like he does a lot better when hitting higher in the order.

sublime · #82 07-07-2006, 11:35 PM

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I think a lot of Adam Dunn's low average comes from batting sixth a lot of the time. Sometimes he hits second and every is "suprised" he gets some hits with Griffey coming up after him.

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chicken and the egg... if he could hit for avg, he wouldn't EVER bat 6th to begin with.

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This is true, but I love him hitting second with Griffey behind him. Does anyone know of a site to look of states by position in order? I would love to take a look at his BA by position in the batting order. It seems like he does a lot better when hitting higher in the order.

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probably too small of a samlple to matter. however, since he is *usually* cincys best HITTER then i agree he should be second [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

THAY3R · #83 07-07-2006, 11:35 PM

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/player...;type=batting3

He has done much better farther down in the order, though of course its a small sample size.

rwperu34 · #84 07-07-2006, 11:38 PM

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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.

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He is stubborn. There is no reason for a player with his strength and eye to strike out 57% of the time he gets two strikes. He's like me when I was 17. He just doesn't want to choke up and put the ball in play with two strikes. His OPS would be higher if he tried to enulate Ichiro (24.1%) with two strikes.

HLMencken · #85 07-07-2006, 11:42 PM

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Adam Dunn would be a great leadoff hitter, ...

And yes, Joe Morgan was wrong. Getting on base is the most important thing a leadoff hitter does.

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The fat slow white guy who needs a double to make it from 1st to 3rd would be a great leadoff hitter... I give up.

rwperu34 · #86 07-07-2006, 11:43 PM

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Did I say that was my definition of best hitter or did I say that's who I'd take in the scenario I replied to?

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Did I ask "who do you want up in that situation?" or did I ask "who is the better hitter?"

In the exact situation of having a runner on second with two outs in the bottom of the ninth with the score tied, I want the highest batting average possible. But that doesn't make the person with the higher average the better overall hitter.

Anyway, to the OP: if Dunn could add more singles and doubles WITHOUT reducing his home run or walk total, then yes, that would make him elite in the Pujols/etc. category. However, to increase his batting average, he would have to use a different strategy that would lower his SLG. Which is a poor tradeoff.

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Over and over again. Dunn needs to change his strategy WITH TWO STRIKES . If he could do this effectively, his slugging would go UP , not down.

rwperu34 · #87 07-07-2006, 11:45 PM

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If baseball wasn't played in 9 vacuum-segments (innings), and was just 27 outs in a row while seeing how many runs each team gets, then I'd be much, much more inclined to go with guys with a small average, but higher OBP and SLG. The "big inning" mentality would come into play much moreso.

But because the scoring gets wiped clean after every 3 outs, I think batting average is a bit more important than some people give credit for in this thread.

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Excellent post.

Sooga · #88 07-07-2006, 11:45 PM

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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.

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He is stubborn. There is no reason for a player with his strength and eye to strike out 57% of the time he gets two strikes. He's like me when I was 17. He just doesn't want to choke up and put the ball in play with two strikes. His OPS would be higher if he tried to enulate Ichiro (24.1%) with two strikes.

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Precisely what I was getting at. Last year he hit .247 and struck out 168 times. If he struck out only, say, 100 times, and with the 68 other at bats, got hits in just 1/4 of them (17 hits), his average would have been near .280, and i'm sure he would have collected a few more rbi and his SLG would obviously improve as well. Dunn swings for the moon pretty much on every swing, and you can't afford to do that when you're stuck in a 1-2 or 0-2 count.

prohornblower · #89 07-07-2006, 11:46 PM

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Adam Dunn would be a great leadoff hitter, ...

And yes, Joe Morgan was wrong. Getting on base is the most important thing a leadoff hitter does.

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The fat slow white guy who needs a double to make it from 1st to 3rd would be a great leadoff hitter... I give up.

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He WOULD be a great leadoff hitter, on an All-Star team. Otherwise, putting him leadoff, and having some clown with no pop hitting 4th is just stupid.

HLMencken · #90 07-07-2006, 11:46 PM

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http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/player...;type=batting3

He has done much better farther down in the order, though of course its a small sample size.

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Great resource, Thayer, thanks for link.

.244 as #2 hitter... no wonder he seemed like next Ty Cobb...