Today we look at the left fielders from the last 10 seasons. Left field is one of the few positions where the Reds have been above average over the last 10 seasons and it's because they've had some pretty good hitters there. Obviously there is Adam Dunn, but Dmitri Young and Greg Vaughn also spent some time in left as well. Heck, even Chris Stynes had a pretty good year when he was the primary starter in 1997. Here's an offensive rundown for each season compared to the league:
REDS LF ALL NL LF
Year Opening Day Starter | AVG OBP SLG | AVG OBP SLG
2006 Dunn Dunn | .241 .363 .480 | .277 .359 .478
2005 Dunn Dunn | .274 .394 .534 | .272 .349 .457
2004 Dunn Dunn | .263 .386 .552 | .277 .367 .484
2003 Dunn Dunn | .228 .329 .428 | .271 .361 .475
2002 Dunn Dunn | .258 .379 .486 | .280 .371 .478
2001 Young Young | .265 .336 .483 | .280 .368 .502
2000 Tucker Young | .310 .368 .529 | .284 .365 .498
1999 Vaughn Vaughn | .251 .351 .514 | .285 .365 .489
1998 Stynes Young | .285 .343 .442 | .268 .338 .447
1997 Sierra Stynes | .289 .343 .406 | .267 .344 .434
Even though most of the other teams in the league keep pretty good hitters in left field, the Reds have managed to keep pace with and even top the league in left for the better part of the last decade. And while the Dunn and Vaughn years aren't really a surprise, take a look at the 2000 season. Who knew that the left field combo of Dmitri Young, Alex Ochoa, and Michael Tucker could bust out the whoopin' sticks like that. Of course, none of the guys that have been manning left field for the last decade will be confused for a gold glover, but that's often the case with the position, so it's nice to see that at least the bats have been lively.
The average season by Reds left fielders over this period is:
AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO HBP SH SF ROE GDP SB CS AVG OBP SLG
Reds 617 99 165 33 3 32 95 84 148 7 2 4 7 13 15 5 .267 .360 .486
LgAvg 624 96 172 35 4 27 94 76 122 7 2 5 7 14 12 5 .276 .358 .474
Have we gotten spoiled by the type of offensive production that we get from left field? Will it take the loss of Dunn for many to realize how important it is to get offense from that position and that defense, while it would be nice, isn't a necessity? I hope not.
Here are the projections for Dunn for next season:
AVG OBP SLG OPS
James .242 .382 .523 .905
CHONE .250 .383 .540 .923
Marcel .254 .378 .528 .906
ZiPS .259 .382 .536 .918
These projections were generated before Dunn came to camp "in the best shape of his life." So, you can double all of the number. ;) Seriously though, Dunn should be riped for a rebound from last season's decline. Let's hope he's not stuck doing it all on his own though, because I think we all know that he's not that kind of player. If the supporting cast can step up, though, look out.