Deconstructing Adam Dunn's strikeouts

This is what 218 Adam Dunn strkeouts look like.

Here are the strikeout numbers behind that pretty picture

Of the 218 strikeouts:

• 134 were against righties
• 84 against lefties

• 166 were swings and misses 
• 52 were called strike threes

• 116 were in the strike zone
• 86 were chases

• 92 were fastballs, 65 were swings and misses, 26 were chases
• 26 were changeups, 22 were swings and misses
• 23 were curveballs, 17 were swings and misses
• 48 were sliders, 40 were swings and misses, 28 were chases
• 8 were cutters, 5 were swings and misses
• 14 were sinkers, 11 were swings and misses
• 7 were splitters, 6 were swings and misses

• 67 were on 1-2 counts
• 65 were on full counts
• 61 were on 2-2 pitches
• 25 were on 0-2 pitches

Bill Chuck’s Friday Nine to Know

1. October 31 is Halloween and Game 6 of the World Series is scheduled. Wouldn’t it be neat if the orange and black Orioles were visiting the orange and black Giants that night?
2. With a runner on third and less than two outs, Buster Posey has gone 22-for-37 (.595) and a MLB-leading 42 RBI.Overall, with runners on third Posey is hitting .481; .529 against lefties, .459 against righties
3. This is Derek Jeter’s 18^thconsecutive season playing for an over .500 ballclub.
4. On 3-0 counts, Albert Pujols is 0-for-8.
5. The Rays will set a new AL record for strikeouts (the good kind) tonight. They enter their game with James Shields on the mound and 1,264 Ks for the season, two short of record held by the 2001 Yankees.
6. With 256 sac bunts, Omar Vizquel is the only active player in the top 150 sac bunters all-time. Vizquel is tied for 35^th all-time with Johnny Evers and Edd Roush. Vizquel is retiring at the end of the season.
7. New York (86-63) matched its season high of 23 games over .500.
8. Chipper Jones has had 18 consecutive seasons of at least 10 homers since 1995.
9. Of Adam Dunn’s 104 hits, 39 were homers, a percentage of 37.5. If 37.5% of Derek Jeter’s 202 hits were homers, he would have 76.

Dunn Demolishing Fastballs During Comeback Season

During the first season of his four-year, $56 million deal with the White Sox, Adam Dunn came dangerously close to failing to slug his own weight. The typical Three True Outcomes idol lost the power component entirely, hitting just 11 home runs and ranking dead last among batters with at least 450 plate appearances in slugging (.277). It was a shocking slide for the Big Donkey, who averaged 37 home runs and slugged .518 during his first nine years as a big league regular.

Dunn's power has returned with a vengeance in 2012, however. Dunn's slugging .494 and he leads the majors with 35 homers. His latest shot, a 434-foot drive off a Tim Collins fastball, made him a member of the 400 career HR club. It's fitting that Dunn's milestone came on a heater. While he couldn't turn on a fastball to save his life in 2011, Dunn is demolishing pitchers who challenge him this year.

Here's Dunn's fastball slugging percentage by pitch location last season, compared to the league average:

Dunn vs. fastballs, 2011

League average fastball slugging percentage

Unless pitchers threw one down the pike, Dunn didn't do much against fastballs. His .332 fastball slugging percentage in 2011 was nearly 80 points below the MLB average for non-pitchers (.406), and hit seven home runs. When he hit a fastball into the air, it was usually a can of corn: Dunn's average fly ball distance on fastballs was 259 feet, below the 264 foot average for non-pitchers.

Dunn's back to crushing fastballs in 2012, particularly those thrown on the outer half:

Dunn vs. fastballs, 2012

He has gone deep 23 times already against fastballs. And with a .620 slugging percentage against the heat, Dunn ranks in the top 15 among qualified hitters:

Highest slugging percentage vs. fastballs, 2012

Batter	Slugging Pct.
Alfonso Soriano	.745
David Ortiz	.736
Andrew McCutchen	.730
Jason Kubel	.722
Miguel Cabrera	.671
Adam LaRoche	.662
Ryan Braun	.651
Curtis Granderson	.651
Paul Konerko	.636
Billy Butler	.636
David Wright	.621
Adam Dunn	.620
Austin Jackson	.616
Nick Swisher	.611
Mike Moustakas	.602

His fly ball distance on fastballs has shot up to 298 feet, tied with Andrew McCutchen for sixth-highest among MLB batters. Suffice it to say, Dunn's not done slugging.