THE BOOK--Playing The Percentages In Baseball

Another question I’d like to hear a pro psychologist’s take on.

Obviously we’re still in the early days, but Adam Dunn is an interesting case to watch. He previously had said he didn’t want to be a DH (and obviously he played in the NL prior to this season). When he signed with the White Sox, he said all the right things about wanting to be a DH and so on, and he continues to say those things.

He’s been pretty bad so far. Can it be attributed to being an essentially full-time DH? We’ll probably never know for sure but he is a data point of a player, arguably close to or in his offensive prime, making the transition.

As someone who predominantly DH’ed during my collegiate playing days, I think there is definitely something to the “acceptance” of your role. I performed successfully as a DH, but many of my teammates struggle with the down time. I think that I let each at-bat linger for more time than those playing the field, and that can be an especially destructive tendency on days where you are not playing well. Has anyone checked the data for “hot starts” when it comes to the ultimate level of success for a new DH?