Adam Dunn's 100 strikeouts

It's hard to believe that in 67 games, 279 plate appearances, 231 at bats, Adam Dunn of the White Sox has 100 strikeouts. For the second time this season, Dunn now has multiple strikeouts in six consecutive games. he's even had 11 games this season with at least three strikeouts. Not that they are comparable, but I was curious as to how many games Joe DiMaggio struck out three times in his career and that would be one. He struck out three times June 19, 1942 against Cleveland. That was the only time in the 1736 games he played.

Here are some very distressingly red images of Adam Dunn this season.

Of Dunn's 100 strikeouts, 27 have been called third strikes:

27 called third strikesDunn has struck out 25 times against lefties, 18 have been swinging strikeouts:

18 swinging strike outs against lefitesAgainst righties, Dunn has swung and missed at strike three 55 times:

There is a little diversity here in his swinging strikeouts against rightiesDunn has been simply atrocious this season against lefties, going 1-for-53 (.019) and that one hit was an infield single.

Dunn vs. lefties:

In 63 plate appearances this season, Dunn against lefties has one single and nine walksDunn has seen 295 pitches against lefites, he has swung at 41% of them, he has missed on 34.7%. his BABIP is .036.

Remarkably, despite Dunn's season thus far, one in which his presence in the lineup was to be heavily relied upon, the White Sox are just 4.5 games out of first. It will be interesting to see what, if any, adjustment can be made for Dunn over the coming weeks.

Francisco Liriano's No Hitter

A quick glance at Francisco Liriano's (Minnesota Twins) pitch location heat map from his no-hitter versus the Chicago White Sox. Click here to view the complete no hitter pitch log.

Alexei Ramirez Adjustments

The heat maps Baseball Analytics produces give a nice view of how pitchers and batters adjust to each other.  Alexei Ramirez provides a good example of this in 2011.  During his first three years in the majors, pitchers tended to avoid the inside part of the plate against him, but used most of the strike zone:

Alexei Ramirez, pitch frequency, 2008-2010.

His power tended to be down and middle in.

Alexei Ramirez, slugging, 2008-2010.

In 2010, pitchers worked him away much more:

Alexei Ramirez, pitch frequency, 2010 only.As the pitches moved away from Alexi, he moved his power with them:

Alexei Ramirez, slugging, 2010.So far in 2011, pitchers have worked him even further away:

Alexei Ramirez, pitch frequency, 2011.Once again, Alexei moved his power with them:

Alexei Ramirez, slugging, 2011.Of course, this early in the season, those might just be a couple of lucky hits.  So far in his career, however, Ramirez showed he can adjust to changes in the way pitchers work the strike zone, and turn a perceived weakness into a strength.