The Incomparable Adam Dunn

[DOUGHBOYS]

Adam Dunn has 24 home runs....and 24 singles....and just 10 doubles.
58 hits, that's all.
It takes a guy like Melky Cabrera or Starlin Castro a month to get that many hits.
For Dunn, the halfway point of the season.

On the surface, it may seem like Dunn is having another 2011 type season. The media cannot tell us enough that he is on his way to setting another new record in striking out this year.
We don't care.
It is the 24 homers that get our attention. From a roto perspective, Dunn can strike out three times a game and hit a three run bomb and his owners would be happy.
There's a 55 per cent chance that Dunn will strike out vs. any lefty if Dunn does not receive a base on balls.
Extraordinary.
At the same time, against that same lefty, there is a one in thirteen chance that ball will be leaving the park.
Also, extraordinary.
In 108 plate appearances vs. lefties, Dunn has put a ball on the field of play just 35 times.

Adam Dunn is betting your house on a football game.
Adam Dunn is pushing in all the money in front of you and saying, "ALL IN!"
Adam Dunn is All or Nothing.

Dunn has been criticized more than most players.
A former Toronto GM called him lazy and said that he didn't care about baseball.
A Cincinnati broadcaster said that he doesn't drive in runs, that he merely homers.
Also saying that he walks on and off the field to and from his position. Showing little energy.
Amusing in that Dunn usually does the same thing at the plate. Either walking back to the dugout after a strike out. Walking to first base after a walk. Or jogging around the bases after a home run.

Dunn is incomparable.
Mark Reynolds has taken a run at Dunn as have Dave Nicholson and Dave Kingman from the past.
But, Dunn is incomparable.

The White Sox have played 79 games this year.
So has Dunn.
The very style of play that others criticize him for, benefits him in that he stays on the field.
Not missing a game will almost insure that Dunn sets a new strike out record this year.
The press and 'experts' will have a field day analyzing the aftermath during the off season.
Dunn is used to it.
He can't be kicked around any more than he was last year.
He had the worst year of any 'good' player in baseball history last year.
Press and fans alike were all over him.
With a new strike out record that could not only be broken, but shattered, Dunn will again get a lion's share of bad press again.

Roto players will be more tolerant.
They'll know the power that Dunn has brought again to the table this year.
They'll know that although teammate Kevin Youkilis will hit for better average and strike out a lot less, he is missing an attribute that is key to roto owners.
Reliability.

Dunn will set the strike out record the right way. Not sit down at the end of the year to avoid it like past players and Managers.
But embracing it.
Knowing that he played every game to help his team and that something like a new strike out record is just something that comes with the Dunn package.

Only 13 players in baseball have played in every game for their teams.
Most are players who play the game like Dunn. They seemed to be doing more walking than running.
Carlos Pena, Miguel Cabrera, Prince Fielder, Adrian Gonzalez, Robby Cano.
There are more and their are exceptions to the rule as well like Michael Bourn and Shane Victorino.
In a time and season where injuries seemed to have hit hardest, guys like these are rare.
Maybe during the off season, we should stop championing the things like Kevin Youkilis does during an at bat and start championing the players that give us at bats every day.
Day in and day out.
Tummy ache or not.

Dunn's average is more of a concern to roto owners than strike out totals. But, like every other part of Dunn's game, even his bad average is reliable. We can draft other players to offset that bad average.
More fortunately for Dunn owners, due to his over dilligence in taking a walk, he'll get less at bats than most players, even while playing every game.

In a fantasy game that is rift with judys, Dunn is Punch.
A one category guy who is not guaranteed to help in other categories.
Trevor Plouffe, Pedro Alvarez, and others are try to keep pace.
They can't.
Dunn is THE Punch.
Incomparable.