In the spirit of Thanksgiving, we have the turkey of the decade (century?) in Adam Dunn.
After seven seasons of being incredibly consistent, the usually bankable Dunn had a season for the ages -- the Middle Ages -- in 2011. A .159 BA, .272 SLG, .569 OPS, just 11 HRs, 36 Runs and 42 RBIs equaled some of the worst stats any major leaguer has ever produced. This after signing a 4-year, $56m contract.
What the heck happened? His BABIP was .240, down from his career norm of .292. His K% boomed as well, continuing a startling upward trend over the last 4 years: 25.2%, 26.5%, 30.7%, 36.5%. His HR% & XBH% rates were puny: 2.2% & 5.4% over his 496 PAs. His LD% stayed normal, as did his GB/FB ratio. His Pitches/PA was up slightly, possibly because he didn't want to swing the bat. At the same time, his Strike Swinging % and Strike Looking % all were pretty similar to career norms.
I just can't find any glaring stat that says "A-ha!" So was it mental? Can he bounce back from this monumental disaster?
I'm guessing he will, that he hasn't become another Dale Murphy, but I think we've seen the last of the consistent Adam Dunn.
.225/26/77
After seven seasons of being incredibly consistent, the usually bankable Dunn had a season for the ages -- the Middle Ages -- in 2011. A .159 BA, .272 SLG, .569 OPS, just 11 HRs, 36 Runs and 42 RBIs equaled some of the worst stats any major leaguer has ever produced. This after signing a 4-year, $56m contract.
What the heck happened? His BABIP was .240, down from his career norm of .292. His K% boomed as well, continuing a startling upward trend over the last 4 years: 25.2%, 26.5%, 30.7%, 36.5%. His HR% & XBH% rates were puny: 2.2% & 5.4% over his 496 PAs. His LD% stayed normal, as did his GB/FB ratio. His Pitches/PA was up slightly, possibly because he didn't want to swing the bat. At the same time, his Strike Swinging % and Strike Looking % all were pretty similar to career norms.
I just can't find any glaring stat that says "A-ha!" So was it mental? Can he bounce back from this monumental disaster?
I'm guessing he will, that he hasn't become another Dale Murphy, but I think we've seen the last of the consistent Adam Dunn.
.225/26/77
Comment