Adam Dunne has lots of fans and he fans a lot.
The Chicago White Sox slugger has 142 strikeouts to lead the Majors.
But he’s also tied for most home runs with Josh Hamilton at 28.
Josh Hamilton tied for tops in homers
By contrast Hamilton has 85 strikeouts.
But the stigma against strikeouts is not what it used to be. FanGraphs.com charted K’s this year and found that nearly 20% of all at-bats result in a whiff. By contrast, the previous high was 18.6%, recorded last year.
FanGraphs says strikeouts are on the rise by one-third compared to 20 years ago. Here are some possible explanations:
- No steroids = lower bat speed
- More pitchers throwing Cutters
- Fastballs have more zip (from 89.9 mph in 2002 to 91.5 mph today)
- Bigger strike zone
- More strikeout specialists (Verlander, Hernandez and Strasburg etc.)
Fans seem to like it though. Attendance is up 8% compared to last year.
