3.30.2005

Adam Dunn Attempting to Cut-down on Ks
I read this the other day and thought it was worth discussing. Cincinnati monster/slugger Adam Dunn is working on reducing his strikeouts.

Said hitting coach Chris Chambliss, "What do you work on? You work on fewer strikeouts and keeping those other numbers up. And now you've really got something--some MVP stuff."
Dunn has some interesting quotes in the story.
"It's going to change this year," Dunn said emphatically. "I'm going to try not to get to two strikes. That's going to be my main thing. It's hard to hit in this league with two strikes."
"I wouldn't say (strikeouts) bother me," Dunn said. "Sometimes they kind of frustrate me, but I wouldn't say I go home and lose sleep over them.

"That's the way I handle stuff. I try not to let stuff bother me too much. I'm not going to sit there and harp on it. I try to have fun with everything, the good and the bad."
"It depends on the player," Dunn said. "If you're capable of driving in three, my thing is you should take three swings because you might connect on one of them. If you're a guy who hits two homers a year, then you're definitely going to have to try to put the ball in play."
Judging from his comments, Dunn seems to have the right idea. He and Chambliss seem to get that Dunn might benefit from making a little more contact, but shouldn't over react by overhauling his entire approach. Dunn had a fantastic season last year, regardless of his strikeout total.
I'm always nervous about messing with a guy's approach. The way i feel Ichiro Suzuki's approach makes him the hitter he is, I feel the same way with Adam Dunn. Both Dunn and Suzuki's approach are antithetic of each other, yet both are very successful at what they do. Maybe taking a few more pitches would hurt Suzuki's numbers just like swinging at a few more pitches might mess with Dunn's success.
I'll throw the question out to all of you...How much should an organization mess with a player who is successful? Should they just let him be, or in the case of a younger player like Adam Dunn, should they do what they can to elevate him from an All-Star caliber player to a Hall of Famer?

4:50 PM