Joe Sheehan’s all upset about Bob Boone benching Adam Dunn over his strikeouts and low batting average (“every game he starts on the bench is another notch in the argument that Boone should be fired. “). I’d agree with Sheehan that Dunn should, as a general matter, be playing everyday given his .569 slugging average. But consider:
1. It’s May. If Boone is trying to get a message to Dunn, now’s the time to do it.
2. Dunn entered the series in Atlanta in a horrendous 2-for-22 slump.
3. Dunn’s .321 on base percentage is too low for a corner outfielder, something I’m sure Sheehan would recognize if Dunn was hitting .285. Because Dunn’s hitting .222, Sheehan’s quick to defend him on a theory of “Boone’s overempasizing batting average.” Yeah, maybe; but Dunn does need to hit better than .222 if he’s going to get on base enough for the Reds to get anywhere. If a benching for a few days in May gets his attention, that may well be worth it.
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I don’t know if it made the highlights last night, what with all the home runs (boy, this is fun!) but Gary Sheffield hit a line drive right at Dunn. The ball hit the ground, bounced to Dunn… And Dunn misplayed it into a double, like a bad third baseman. I think it hit him in the shoulder Never seen that before in the outfield.
Boone, meanwhile, is aging before our eyes. He looks about twenty years older than he did when the Royals fired him, and fifteen years older than his age.