Slam Dunc

According to Hit Tracker, Chris Duncan's bomb was 452 feet. It was the second longest homerun in Dodger Stadium this season. The longest was hit by Barry Bonds at 464 feet. But it wasn't just Chris's power that got my attention last night. With some heads up baserunning in the sixth inning, Dunc tagged up from second to go to third on a so-so fly ball to Kenny Lofton, and Albert, always the aggressor, also tagged up from first and went to second. You gotta love that hustle, and it allowed Duncan to score his second run. To even reach that base in the first place Duncan drew a walk, and I loved how patient he was at the plate. He saw 25 pitches last night in his 4 plate appearances, showing he's not just a free-swinger.

In his 80 at bats, Duncan is hitting .313/.356/.575. I don't think he could sustain that sort of success over 500 at bats,  but I do think he has enough upside to hit .275/.340/.480 with 20+ dingers if things break right for him. On the flip side, I could also see .240/.310/.420 if things go wrong and he regresses. Since coming back up for more of an extended stay, he's cut down his swing a bit so he's striking out less. McRae tried the same thing with John Rodriguez and it killed Rodriguez's his power. Not so with Chris.

I'm not saying he's the long-term solution in left field, and if we could get that "impact-bat" we keep hearing about, that's fine. But I'm certainly feeling more and more comfortable with him starting in left field, and I'm having fun rooting for the coaches son show that he's not here just because of his dad.