May as well start with the obvious culprit behind the Sox’s horrendous offense this year.  That would be Adam Dunn, the prized signing of the offseason, and the man who was labeled as the left-handed power presence that the Sox desperately needed in 2010.  Instead, Dunn turned into one of the biggest busts in Sox history.  Let’s have a look at what went wrong.

The season started well enough for Dunn, who homered on opening day.  But it didn’t take long for things to go sour after that.  After coming under some scrutiny for admitting to not picking up a bat until Spring Training, Dunn failed to get going in the beginning of the season, and then had an appendectomy.  He came back from that procedure pretty quickly, and it probably did hold him back for a time.  But he never emerged from that post-surgery slump.

Things just got worse and worse as he followed up his bad April with a bad May and a bad June.  By the All-Star Game, Dunn was in the midst of the one of the worst offensive seasons ever.  And he never came out of it.

Now, Dunn finds himself riding the pine every day, in favor of young players who need at-bats.  I’m sure Dunn will find himself in the lineup here and there over the last few weeks of the season, but there is little chance he even gets an opportunity to get his average even to .200.

It is an interesting case, to be sure, since players usually break out and have a hot streak at some point in the year.  It never happened with Dunn, who has looked completely lost at the plate all season long.  His power is non-existent, his average is putrid, and he strikes out almost all the time.  It seems, anyway.

So what happened?  There are a number of excuses/reasons given for Dunn’s collapse.  Among them are the appendectomy, his transition to the America League, his adjustment to a new city and team, and his inability to adjust to the preparation of a designated hitter.  All of those are partially true, but each is simply an excuse.  Even if he came back too quickly after his surgery, Dunn healed a very long time ago.  He would have adjusted sometime in May or June after an initial struggle. 

Something else, then is the problem.  And I think it’s just his own head.  I feel like Dunn’s case is a classic case of someone pressing and simply trying too hard.  He probably wanted to impress his new team and city by hitting a homerun every single time and when things went wrong, he couldn’t adjust.  And when the slump continued, he panicked.  And once he panicked, he was unable to get out of it. 

On top of that, as the struggles became more pronounced, he was booed mercilessly at home, adding to the miasma of thoughts in his head.  When young players like Tyler Flowers and Alejandro De Aza came up and started tearing up the ball, Dunn probably sat there wondering how these kids were doing this and he couldn’t.  It was just one mental mess after another for him.

So basically, I feel that Adam Dunn’s problems are all in Adam Dunn’s head.  He needs to get away and start afresh next year.  Is there hope for him?  Stay tuned.