Adam Dunn, All-Star?

Well, no, at least not officially, but should he be on the team? To make his case, let's see how he compares to the 7 (!) National League All-Star outfielders*.

First, Dunn's rank among all National League outfielders in the following (as of July 1):
23 homers (1st)
54 runs (1st)
54 RBI (4th)
39 walks (t-4th)
.561 SLG (7th)

Let's compare Dunn's ranks in the above categories to three actual All-Star outfielders.

Exhibit A) Aaron Rowand
11 homers (t-16th)
50 runs (t-4th)
42 RBI (13th)
28 walks (t-12th)
.478 SLG (24th)
Yes, I realize Rowand is a better defensive player, but it in no way makes up for the gap in hitting prowess. Not to mention the fact that Rowand is playing exceedingly above his head this year, and Dunn consistently mashes. Of course Rowand does lead in the highly valuable "running into walls" category.

Exhibit B) Alfonso Soriano
15 homers (t-4th)
53 runs (2nd)
30 RBI (27th)
21 walks (28th)
.544 SLG (8th)
Take away Soriano's recent tear the last few weeks, and his numbers would be even more dismal than they already are. However, this still falls considerably short of what should be deemed an All-Star season. 27th in the National League in RBI among ONLY OUTFIELDERS for the $100+ million man? Seriously?

Exhibit C) Carlos Beltran
14 homers (7th)
45 runs (8th)
49 RBI (9th)
36 walks (9th)
.482 SLG (20th)
Beltran was voted in by the fans, so if this is who they want to see, they got him. However, based strictly on the numbers, he is not an All-Star.

So it appears that Adam Dunn should be an All-Star this season. By now, we should realize the Reds fans themselves would never vote in Dunn, so there's no way he could beat out Beltran. However, he should have definitely made this team ahead of both Rowand and Soriano. Also, how is Jimmy Rollins not an All-Star? I suppose I'll leave that analysis up to a Phillies fan.



* KAD reserves the right to cherry pick the stats that best support our case.