Why Is It That When Dunn Finally Comes Out of His Slump...

[BigJohn]

why is it silly, is it not the same as a sac bunt?

[Johnny Footstool]

pedro, he does hit strikes for HRs when no one is on base though, why is that, easier pitches to hit I bet. He takes a lot of strikes and a lot of very close balls. He should be more aggressive with RISP. Everyone knows that but we like to make excuses for his inability to get the job done with men on base.

For Dunn, more aggressive = more outs. That doesn't help anyone except on rare occasions.

Granted, watching him take a fastball down the pipe for a strike is frustrating. But I'd rather have him do that and work the count than hack at the first pitch and lift lazy fly balls to RF.

[ochre]

there is no proof that changing his approach will net what you are looking for.

It might even net worse results.

[ochre]

for the record, advancing a base < an out.

If the choice is advancing a base at the cost of an out, under nearly all circumstances, avoiding the out is the better choice. Late in key games (playoffs/WS) would be the only times that I'd consider that trade to be worth the cost.

[pedro]

why is it silly, is it not the same as a sac bunt?

Because a sac bunt is only desirable in certain situations. Such as when the picther is up with a guy on base.

[BigJohn]

The world will never know!

[Redsland]

why is it silly, is it not the same as a sac bunt?

There's no clock in baseball. You can keep hitting and keep scoring runs forever. Only one thing prevents this. Well, 27 things actually: The three outs you have in each of the nine innings. They are precious things to be horded. When you sac bunt, you give one away. When you walk, you don't.

[KronoRed]

For Dunn, more aggressive = more outs. That doesn't help anyone except on rare occasions.

What more needs to be said?

This is how Dunn is, accept it and move on to the teams REAL problems.

[BigJohn]

0-24 with RISP?

[ochre]

It's baseball. Probability indicates that any individual player will at one time, or another, go through streaks, whether those streaks be positive, or negative.

While each individual incident is probabilistically isolated, a streak such as the one you indicate there will generally be compensated for through a similar streak in which the positive outcomes occur. It is generally called reverting to norms.

[BigJohn]

I was commenting on the teams real problems statement. Thanks for the math lesson, though

[KronoRed]

1-25 now

[BigJohn]

I love it!!!!!!!!!!

[TeamBoone]

why?

He has driven in 14 of a possible 91 runners in scoring position this year. He ranks 173rd out of a possible 240 ML players who come to bat with at least 45 runners on base this year. He hits solo HRs, He does not hit with RISP... With the bases empty, he's hitting .280, with RISP, he's hitting .147. He's had 5 hits in the past 3 games so that is good but he's still not driving in runs when the opportunity is there. It's easy to see, if he starts an inning, he's dangerous, if he comes up with men on, he's almost an automatic out.

Did it ever occur to you that he's pitched differently with the bases empty? Not only that but he's had 134 ABs with the bases empty and 53 leading off an inning... 187 ABs total with the bases empty vs 91 with runners on... not necessarily in scoring position but on base.

Regardless, he still leads the team in RBI. How would you explain that?

[BigJohn]

I am no longer discussing this matter! Dunn has put me in a state of no more griping!