Done with Dunn?
Monday, Aug 29, 2011 - Posted by Rich Miller
* I’m as frustrated as any other White Sox fan about Adam Dunn’s lack of performance, but I also really feel for the guy. I kinda fell in love with him during spring training, and it’s hard to be angry with somebody who is so self aware…
A frustrated Adam Dunn accepts the probably that he won’t have a chance to salvage his season in the final 4½ weeks.
“I’m a realist,” Dunn said Sunday before Dayan Viciedo hit a three-run home run in his first game with the Sox this season. “I’m not like an idiot. We’re right in the middle of things. What do you do? What do you say?”
With a .163 batting average, 156 strikeouts and an .037 batting average (3-for-81) against left-handed pitchers, manager Ozzie Guillen had little choice but to talk Sunday with Dunn about a possible reduced role. […]
“These are the guys who matter when it comes down to it,” Dunn said. “That’s the hardest part about the whole thing. If it was me, I could get over it. But it’s the guys in here. I don’t know how else to put it. It sucks.
* Phil Kadner is less patient…
Adam Dunn should not be allowed to play another game for the White Sox this season.
The designated hitter and backup first baseman cannot hit.
He has a chance to become only the second player in major league history to have his strikeout total exceed his batting average in a season.
Mark Reynolds, formerly of the Arizona Diamondbacks and now with the Baltimore Orioles, last season became the first hitter to accomplish that dubious mark.
Reynolds struck out 211 times and hit .198. Dunn, as of Thursday, had 153 strikeouts and a .165 batting average.
I don’t blame Dunn for this fiasco. I blame the White Sox organization.
Every time they send him out to play, they insult baseball fans across the country and damage the reputation of their entire team.
Your thoughts?
* Semi-related…
* With Hendry out, Park Ridge wants ‘Jim Hendry Way’ gone too
- Lefty - Monday, Aug 29, 11 @ 5:31 am:
Adam Dunn has 11 home runs. If he had hit 29 more this season he would have 40 this year or his average for his career when playing a full season. With 29 more hits his average would be .245 which is his career average. Very simply, Adam Dunn has not done what he was has typically done in his career- either strike out or hit a homerun. This year he has just struck out or mad an out some other way.
- Skeeter - Monday, Aug 29, 11 @ 6:23 am:
My thoughts on this? Stop whining. When your side loses 8-2 on a game watched across the world, in a sport where 2-0 is considered a blowout, then you can complain. One guy playing badly and you think it deserves space here? Boo hoo. Get some perspective.
- Responsa - Monday, Aug 29, 11 @ 6:54 am:
Dunn needs to sit out the rest of the season. Not as punishment or to humiliate him by having him ride the bench–but for the exact opposite reason. It would be a humane gesture. It’s killing him not to be contributing and I think each at bat is even more painful for him than it is for the fans and his teammates. He’s about as humiliated as a man can be and still show up for work everyday. It’s not lack of desire or work ethic, either. It’s mental or an eye-coordination affliction of some sort. Whatever it is that is going on inside his head he’s not going to suddenly snap out of it. Hopefully, work done behind the scenes in the off season will either fix him or convince him he needs to retire.
In the meantime give his wounded psyche a rest and give the promising young guys a chance to play.
- dave - Monday, Aug 29, 11 @ 6:56 am:
in a sport where 2-0 is considered a blowout
Huh?
- Roadiepig - Monday, Aug 29, 11 @ 7:54 am:
@dave…Maybe Skeeter is a soccer fan? Didn’t the Yankees score 22 runs in a game and win 22-9 last week? Now THAT’S a blowout!
- Anonymous - Monday, Aug 29, 11 @ 8:07 am:
Dunn realizes he’s not a kid anymore; he has to work out in the off-season and come into spring ready to go. This season has been very humbling for a three-sport, Texas high-school legend who never had to work at anything. He was a natural, a big one.
He seems very sincere about the changes he needs to make. I hope it’s reflected next year in his strikeouts. Guys who strike out as much as he does don’t have enough respect for the game.
Joe Dimaggio, playing in cavernous old Yankee Stadium, had 361 career homers. He 369 career strikeouts. Dunn will strike out that much in 250 games.
Sox are still in the hunt. Ozzie has to put out the lineup every game that has the best chance to win.
They also might want to send a case of scotch to Cabrera, and hoper Verlander takes the rest of the year off. He’s on a run for the ages.
- 47th Ward - Monday, Aug 29, 11 @ 8:30 am:
I take no joy in Dunn’s struggles. It’s hard to watch, even for a Cubs fan. I think this is the end of the Williams-Guillen World Series Run. It’s time to start over and rebuild the next WS team and unfortunately, that means a lot of good guys are going to be leaving the South Side.
They are more than one or two pieces away from another Commissioner’s trophy. Band-aids and stop gaps aren’t going to do it. Fortunately, they have a good farm system and an owner who will put the resources in when needed to add the right pieces.
It’s going to be a long time before we see great baseball again in Chicago, on either side of town.
Go Bears!
- wordslinger - Monday, Aug 29, 11 @ 8:37 am:
47, did you see that whack Cutler took on the first play Saturday? And just how short are Roy Williams arms, anyway?
- Cincinnatus - Monday, Aug 29, 11 @ 8:48 am:
- wordslinger - Monday, Aug 29, 11 @ 8:37 am:
“And just how short are Roy Williams arms, anyway?”
Cee Lo sized.
- Curt Mercadante - Monday, Aug 29, 11 @ 8:56 am:
Rich, I agree with you. When Dunn gets standing ovations for walks, you k ow he’s got to be embarrassed. But this entire season has been a downer for the Sox. As a lifelong Sox fan, I think some changes need to be made. Oddly enough, I’m more upset about Rios and some other players who just don’t seem to care.
- Jim - Monday, Aug 29, 11 @ 8:57 am:
The most frustrated person has to be Reinsdorf, who now has 3 huge, long-term contracts for players who have performed poorly, or adequately in Peavy’s case. But somehow they are still alive, so let Viciedo get every Dunn at bat between now and the end of the year.
- Alias - Monday, Aug 29, 11 @ 9:10 am:
I’m curious if anyone has run the stats on how many more games the Sox could have been expected to win if Viciedo had replaced Dunn on July 1, or August 1.
Or, for that matter, if they had skipped signing Dunn to that silly contract, and gone with Viciedo since opening day.
- overcooked - Monday, Aug 29, 11 @ 9:19 am:
I agree that Dunn needs to sit because he brings so much negative enery to the team. Furthermore, although the odds are slim, a post season roster should exclude Adam Dunn.
- Elmhurst - Monday, Aug 29, 11 @ 9:29 am:
For me, Dunn long ago sunk below being something to be angry about. And he sunk below pity, and is now just depressing to see.
Singling Dunn and Rios out, although they are beacons of suck, just covers for Beckham, yesterday aside, was every bit as bad at bat and has no ability to adjust to pitching, and Morel, who at least has he excuse of being a rookie and is showing a little progress. Hell, Omar Vizquel no longer has any useful skills but he’s still on the roster.
Ozzie seems to have spent the year managing by not managing at all. Just leave guys in the roles they’re doing poorly in. And make excuses for why a clearly ready Viciedo wasn’t up. “Where’s he gonna play?” “Who’s he gonna replace?”
Jim Margalus was right on Twitter this weekend- every piece of a mediocre team was somehow elevated to necessity.
- dave - Monday, Aug 29, 11 @ 10:02 am:
I’m curious if anyone has run the stats on how many more games the Sox could have been expected to win if Viciedo had replaced Dunn on July 1, or August 1.
Adam Dunn has been worth -2.5 wins (WAR, from fangraphs.com).
Fangraphs projects that Viciedo would have a .354 wOBA. Asdrubal Cabrera has a .357 wOBA this year, and is hurt by defense, and has 3.5 WAR this year, so that is probably an accurate comparison.
So maybe a 5-6 game swing if Viciedo had a) played all year instead of Dunn, and b) actually performed at the projected levels.
- Elmhurst - Monday, Aug 29, 11 @ 10:11 am:
Alias- you wondered how many games Dunn has cost. Using Fangraphs WAR, Dunn is -2.5, Rios is -1.1, Vizquel is -0.5. So if you replace them with theoretical quad-A types, the Sox could have done 4 games better. Replace them in the lineup with something even a little better, you’re right there with Detroit. Ditto if Dunn or Rios had been something approaching their usual selves.
It’s a small sample size, but through 110 PAs in his ML career, Viciedo is 0.5 WAR. De Aza has 290 career PAs, he’s 0.8 WAR.
- 42nd Ward - Monday, Aug 29, 11 @ 10:26 am:
The Sox are running out of games, fast. If Detroit plays just .500 baseball in September, the Sox need to be just over .700 for the month to best them, just under .700 to tie. Six games left with the Tigers, though.
- Bill White - Monday, Aug 29, 11 @ 10:54 am:
Was the decision to play Adam Dunn regularly made at Ozzie Guillen’s level or was Ozzie told by a higher echelon of authority that he was expected to play Dunn regularly?
Anyway, I agree with this:
=== Adam Dunn should not be allowed to play another game for the White Sox this season. ===
and I hope this proves true:
=== Dunn [will] realize he’s not a kid anymore and he will work out in the off-season and come into 2012 spring training ready to go. ===
- sal-says - Monday, Aug 29, 11 @ 11:27 am:
“I don’t blame Dunn for this fiasco. I blame the White Sox organization.”
Have to agree. Sox say they want to win….but….they wait til now to bring Viciedo up?
“* With Hendry out, Park Ridge wants ‘Jim Hendry Way’ gone too”
Goofy. Apparently they aren’t very serious about any ‘honorary’ stuff?
- Alias - Monday, Aug 29, 11 @ 11:31 am:
Thanks, folks. I’m surprised Dunn’s negative number isn’t even larger.
- Cheryl44 - Monday, Aug 29, 11 @ 11:37 am:
Actually Sal, the Hendry sign was illegal in Park Ridge. Blagojevich made them put it up.
- amalia - Monday, Aug 29, 11 @ 11:52 am:
I would like to give Dunn a big hug. and the team a big hug for a fine weekend. It’s not going anywhere with them but at least it’s fun every once in a while. We won in 2005. that’s more than many can say for, oh, a century or so. Still believe in Ozzie.
- amalia - Monday, Aug 29, 11 @ 11:56 am:
@Skeeter….YES! about to reread Fever Pitch so I can wallow in the depths of Nick Hornby and his Arsenal dread of days gone by. too bad Nick does not blog about the Gunners. defenders down, good players yet to be replaced. Van Persie misses the freakin’ penalty kick. lots of liquor consumed yesterday.
- Skeeter - Monday, Aug 29, 11 @ 12:02 pm:
Thanks for sharing the pain, Amalia. It was an absolutely brutal day. Any loss to Man U is tough, but to be completely destroyed? That was not the way to start a day.
And “Fever Pitch” is a great book even if are not an Arsenal (or even soccer) fan.
- Rich Miller - Monday, Aug 29, 11 @ 12:08 pm:
Skeeter, a sport where players aggressively vie to invent the best fake injuries is not a sport I enjoy.
Also, this blog has always been about politics and baseball. Deal with it.
- Skeeter - Monday, Aug 29, 11 @ 12:13 pm:
“I’m not an athlete. I’m a baseball player.” John Kruk
Apparently Dunn is neither an athlete nor a baseball player.
“Also, this blog has always been about politics and baseball. Deal with it.” You left out music. The blog is also about music.
- Carl Nyberg - Monday, Aug 29, 11 @ 12:18 pm:
Here’s my defense of the decision to play Adam Dunn.
For the White Sox to have the surge they needed to win, they needed the old Adam Dunn. So, they (Ozzie, Kenny, et al) kept playing him, hoping he would “turn the corner”.
Viciedo and others got at-bats and they didn’t put up impressive numbers.
The Sox should replace hitting coach Greg Walker. He’s not getting players to hit at their potential level.
If possible, Adam Dunn should get moved to the National League.
- Wumpus - Monday, Aug 29, 11 @ 12:22 pm:
Seems likeable. If he had put up Penalike numbers, the Sox may be in contention.
- Rudy - Monday, Aug 29, 11 @ 1:55 pm:
Dunn has said he’s a “feel hitter” not a “mechanical hitter”–this is a way certain hitters explain their refusal to take batting instruction.
Most other professions have “continuing education” requirements.
Don’t men have a notoriously hard time asking for help?
If he’s humbled enough by his record, he could ask for instructions. Hypnosis is another possibility.
That could change, if he’s big enough to re
- railrat - Monday, Aug 29, 11 @ 2:11 pm:
Adam Dunns failure…..its George Bush’s fault of course !!!
- Rich Miller - Monday, Aug 29, 11 @ 2:18 pm:
Nah. Obama is the Sox fan. It’s gotta be his fault.
- amalia - Monday, Aug 29, 11 @ 5:46 pm:
oh,Rich, Skeeter is doing what this blog is about….. connecting. I’ve found another fan of Arsenal, a team, which like the White Sox, has the best pitch (field) in the business. and a team that is owned by people and not some oligarch owner who plays the anthem of his country (I’m talking to you, Chelsea) at the stadium in London. And, just like the White Sox, a team that gets it’s ass kicked by the “Yankees” of the EPL. although I have one quibble with Skeeter, never call them man, at my house they are Manch U or Man Utd. trying to train the husband not to act so American! at least Tottenham lost badly……
- DuPage Dave - Monday, Aug 29, 11 @ 7:09 pm:
Dunn has been an abomination this season. Aided and abetted by Kenny and Ozzie. Condsider this:
Sox trail Yankees 3 to 2. Bases loaded. One out. Dunn comes to bat against lefty C.C. Sabathia. Dunn at the time is hitting .047 against lefties (it’s worse now).
Why is Dunn batting in that situation? Because someone paid him $12 million a year and someone else is afraid to pull him for someone hitting more than .047 against lefties.
Never in the history of baseball has a batter achieved a .163 average over 367 at bats. Why? In the old days, a player who can no longer play like Dunn would have been dismissed in May or June. He would have been lucky to sit on the bench.
But with another $40+ million guaranteed to Dunn the Sox are in a bind. Can’t trade him, shouldn’t play him- whatcha gonna do?
I say sit him down and play Lillibridge at first, DeAza in center and Viciedo in right.
- Ralph Garr's Wanderlust - Monday, Aug 29, 11 @ 9:18 pm:
Dunn doesn’t complete the line-up.
Either Ozzie sent him out there again and again on his own or under the direction of others.
- Skeeter - Tuesday, Aug 30, 11 @ 7:08 am:
On behalf of Amalia and I, we formally request that this blog recognize Arsenal as the official side of CapFax. It might help with your international subscribers too, so there is a big upside. You would lose all your Spurs fans, but let’s be honest — they were probably the ones making the idiotic drive by comments anyway. We don’t need that kind around here.
- amalia - Tuesday, Aug 30, 11 @ 10:58 am:
@ Skeeter….LOL! you do have a great point. while the ass kicking was not seen since the 19th century, Arsenal does have the biggest fan base, including the Queen herself. And the Spurs fans burned down much of the neighborhood around White Hart Lane and looted the Spurs gift shop!