Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
September 28, 2006
Low Power Slugger

Joe Duellman writes:

I just noticed that Adam Dunn is slugging under .500 despite hitting 40 home runs so far this season. That seems like something that would happen very rarely. Who is the last player to do this? Is it as uncommon as I think?

It's more uncommon than you think. The lowest slugging percentage by a 40 home run hitter is .506 by Jay Buhner in 1997. Jay hit 40 that year, but his batting average was just .243. After play tonight, Dunn is hitting just .233, and almost have his hits went for extra bases.


Posted by David Pinto at 10:38 PM | Sluggers | TrackBack (0)
Comments

I asked earlier this season why high Ks aren't considered a negative for a batter. Dave said if the Ks got out of control, they'd effect other stats. Well, here it is!! Dunn leads the NL in Ks and is one of a handful with more Ks than hits. He has by far the largest differential.

Posted by: Phil at September 28, 2006 11:29 PM

High strikeouts aren't a problem if a guy is able to keep his average above 250 or so, after that it seems like they are a bigger problem. For examples of effective high-strikeout guys see Mike Cameron, Ryan Howard and David Ortiz. THose guys keep their average up by having a high average on balls in play. Dunn doesn't.
And if you're wondering whyhigh K's aren't always a negative for a batter, think about Tony Gwynn. As a PAds fan, I loved Tony. He never, ever struck out. But he always led the league in hitting into DPs. It killed me to see him come up with a runner on first and one out. I'd much prefer a K than a GIDP.

Posted by: david at September 29, 2006 09:27 AM
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