Chicago White Sox Need Another Normal Adam Dunn Season

When you look for consistent hitters around Major League Baseball that put up basically the same numbers every season, there is one name that pops into everyone’s head right away. That would be Adam Dunn, who has hit at least 38 home runs in eight of the last nine seasons. While Dunn has become a player that will either hit a home run or strike out, that is still a very valuable piece for the Chicago White Sox as this season gets closer.

Dunn had 41 home runs last season while hitting just .204 and striking out 222 times while drawing 105 walks. The thing that the White Sox will do this season is move Dunn down to No. 5 in the lineup which should allow some more protection for Paul Konerko with Alex Rios hitting third before Konerko instead of Dunn. Dunn is going to have another big season though. The 2011 season where he had just 11 home runs was mostly due to him learning to be a full-time designated hitter after playing his whole career in the National League.

Dunn has figured that out though and while people may be discounting the White Sox for the 2013 season, I wouldn’t do that just yet. If Dunn can come up with his 40 home runs again, Chicago is going to stay in the American League Central race all season. It could even lead to the White Sox finishing second in the division. Dunn though should just have a patch that says “Mr. Consistent” on it at this point of his career.

Andy Schmidt is a columnist/writer for RantSports. Follow him on Twitter @ASchmidtSports, like his Facebook page or add him to your network on Google.