“To me he’s a feel hitter,” Sox hitting coach Greg Walker said Saturday. “I really think if you break down his swing it’s a fairly simple fix. We feel like he needs to get his foot down on time to be balanced.”
Walker has talked several times with Rick Eckstein, Dunn’s former hitting coach with the Washington Nationals. He said they agree on what Dunn’s major issue has been.”
He’s shown flashes — that game in Texas [Tuesday when he hit his last home run] he was real good getting the foot down and being balanced. When he gets that feel he’s going to be real explosive for us and do great things. Right now getting his big body in position to hit is the real battle.”
Walker said 3 days ago Carlos Quentin did what he wants Dunn to do:
“Obviously [Tuesday] night he was awesome and he’s had days like that this year where he’s been unbelievable,” hitting coach Greg Walker said. “To me, the only issue so far this year is Carlos being late with the foot down, and we kind of corrected that a week, 10 days ago. Other than having a sore knee one day, he’s really been good ever since.
”Essentially, Walker has worked with Quentin to refine the timing of his swing. If Quentin can stride and get his foot down before the ball arrives, he is in a better position to cover the strike zone. His most impressive home run Tuesday came when he reached out across the plate and slugged a 400-foot-plus shot just inside the foul pole in right field.
“Going the other way is always a good sign for any hitter, especially being able to hit the ball in the gap and drive the ball,” Quentin said. “My push is to always stay up the middle and to the right side and to accomplish that, that’s something good.”
More Dunn inside.
Dunn on Ozzies frustration: "Little I know if him, he’s still a player, feels exactly like we do when we lose. I dont have prob w/it at all"—
Brett Ballantini (@CSNChi_Beatnik) May 28, 2011
Dunn on Ozzie cont.: "If he doesn’t feel frustrated, he needs to be doing something else, because this is awful."—
Brett Ballantini (@CSNChi_Beatnik) May 28, 2011
Dunn: "I’ve got to find a way to start over. Forget everything, and start having fun. I’ve lost that somewhere down the line"—
Brett Ballantini (@CSNChi_Beatnik) May 28, 2011
