Game Thread:Narrons' first Reds Lineup...

[CincyRedsFan30]

Stat: Runners on 3rd with less than 2 outs. Dunn has only converted 2 of 14 times. That has to improve

I think you're ignoring walks here, which also count. If Dunn were to be batting higher in the order(as he should be), his BB would be huge, and he is now tied with Abreu for the league-lead in BB with 52.

[bipster]

No I'm not, when he walks it doesn't count as a plate appearance. In the 14 times he has come to bat and recorded a plate appearance, with a man on third and less then 2 outs he has only driven in 2 guys.
(At least this was the stat shown on the Cardinals broadcast)

I get the value of Dunn, so don't start with that same old argument, cause I am on your side. In this case there is no other way to look at it other than it needs to improve.

[CincyRedsFan30]

It doesn't need to improve, because with a hitter like Dunn, his whole game will be ruined if he tries to do what you want him to do.

[Wally Mo Pena]

you have no idea if that's true or not CRF you're just guessing. Show me the comparisons if you think you know. Who else in baseball history has started a career with this much power, this many k's, this many walks, and this low of a BA. And then of those people (if there are any) who of them tried to learn to make more consistent line drive contact and adopted a traditional 2 strike approach, and then lost all of their power and "ruined their game."

I don't think there is any evidence to support that. Dunn should be trying to get better, he is a young player and he should still be improving. Also, shouldn't all baseball players be trying to get better? I can't believe that you would say that he shouldn't improve.

[missionhockey21]

Wally, I believe CRF just fears if the Reds try to change him and mold him to their liking we will see what happened when Boone and gang did the same thing a few years ago to him, Dunn completely lost at the plate. I could be wrong about that but that is what I personally fear.

Anyway, I agree that this is something I hope improves but we all have to remember Adam is his own biggest critic. I think he always wants to get better and with his talent level I think he can continue to improve just on his own with his way essentially. I really think as he matures he will become the professional hitter we all want. Just my two cents... (although I hear the value is dropping day by day.)

[Steak]

Congrats to Jerry Narron in his first win as the Reds manager. Here is hoping that there is more where it came from.

[CincyRedsFan30]

Mission, you hit the nail on the head.

[Wally Mo Pena]

I hear you mission, but i think the problem a few years ago was too many chefs spoiling the stew or however that goes. He was getting mixed messages. If we are just expecting our players to improve on their own, why do we have coaches? I understand that constant tinkering can take a player in the wrong direction, but i think dunn needs to make a wholesale change in his approach, and that is:

Until they change the rules, you don't get any more runs for hitting 450 foot HRs than for 370 foot HRs. That day may come with how small these parks are getting, but it ain't now . So to me, the benefit of having such a monster like dunn, isn't that he hits huge HRs, it's that if he would go the other way, he'd hit lots and lots of HRs, on balls that smaller dudes could get out.

Dunn just doesn't really hit linedrives that much anymore, and certainly not to the left side. IF you try to yank and cruch everything, you are going to miss a lot more. A ball low and away is really tough to pull, but dunn could do what Pujols did the other night and go opposite field with it over and over again. His swing has major holes right now, and i want them to try to get rid of those.

I want him to be patient and walk 100 times a year, that doesn't have anything to do with this. I just think that if they change his approach to hitting line drives his HR count will increase (even if the average distance decreases) his BA will go up, he will make less outs, he will make more productive outs, and we will knock more runs in. I don't see any negatives, unless (like CRF was saying) trying to teach him makes him awful.

If teaching him makes him awful, then i guess we just got a weird player who will only marginally improve. He's good right now, but if he can't be taught, then i don't think he will get much better, and i think he has a lot of room to improve. Yes he has a high OPS, but i think he has the potential to have an OPS over 1.000. He could be MVP if he could improve in the ways that i think he can, but it will take changing his game.

[CincyRedsFan30]

Dunn will get better on his own. Consider his age and the fact that he's currently number five in the NL in OPS and Runs Created/27.

Also, he has 138 HR in his career so far. If he continues to the pace he's on this year, he will finish the year with 45 and 163 for his career. And he is still only 25! Imagine if he improves naturally just a little bit. Wow.

If he finished with 163 after this year and played for just another 12 years and averaged 45 HR every year, he would finish with 703 HR!

[Wally Mo Pena]

but why settle for just a little improvement if he could put up MVP numbers instead of raw power numbers

[CincyRedsFan30]

Because teams that hit a lot of HR usually score a lot of runs.

[Wally Mo Pena]

i'm talking about him hitting more HRs.

[CincyRedsFan30]

That will probably happen naturally as he gets older. What I'm saying though, is even if he averages a pace of 45(as he is this year), he would have 703 by the team he is 37 or 38.

And remember Bonds didn't hit his most until his 30's!