Let’s be honest – coaches have been trying to change Nats first baseman Adam Dunn forever. It’s part of his baseball DNA. The man knows the strike zone so well that he doesn’t often swing at pitches he deems of poor quality. It has driven various fans, media-types and even coaches and front-office personnel crazy. Example: Last night when Braves reliever Kris Medlin got a fortunate call in the ninth inning of a tie game and struck out Dunn looking. The pitch probably wasn’t a strike. But umpires are human, too. And a guy who could have ended the game with one swing of his bat was back in the dugout with two out and nobody on base. That’s the trade-off for a player capable of hitting 40 homers with 100 RBI and well over 100 walks every season. He’s accomplished those things his way. Mess with that at your own risk.
“Sometimes that good eye, which is one of [Dunn’s] best attributes, can work against him,” said Nats manager Jim Riggleman. “Because sometimes there are some hitters that they know the strike zone so well. They know a ball and a strike. But everything’s so fast up there. That ball’s moving. We ask the umpires to look at 300 pitches a night and not be wrong. So if they miss one by an inch – technically it was not a strike. But you don’t always get away with that. Adam has had success doing it this way. We just have to allow him to determine what’s going to work for him. And he’s had a pretty good history of making it work.”
So coaches have to be cautious when working with Dunn. He has 22 walks to 21 hits this season so far. The Nats would like to see him be a little less selective in certain situations. But Dunn’s developed enough of a relationship with hitting coach Rick Eckstein and quality-control coach Tim Foli – familiar with Dunn during their days with the Cincinnati Reds – that he trusts them to tweak his approach – and not try to revamp it.
