Adam Dunn is the only player in baseball who has hit 40 or more homers each of the last five seasons. He has been an All-Star. He’s making $8 million this year.
How many other players of that stature would agree to rotate among three different positions?
That’s what Dunn will begin doing after manager Manny Acta approached him about making some occasional starts in right field to go along with his regular gigs in left and at first base.
Dunn never had to stop and think about it before saying yes.
“I mean, it’s not like he’s asking me to play shortstop,” the slugger quipped.
Hardly known as a defensive whiz, Dunn has spent the bulk of his career as a left fielder (955 games) with some minimal time at first base (129 games) and right field (82).
He said there’s a slight adjustment moving from one side of the outfield to the other, particularly when it comes to angles that need to be taken to track down balls. But he’s not fazed at all at the prospect of moving around on a near-daily basis between three different positions.
“It’s a challenge, but it’s a fun challenge,” he said. “The good thing is it breaks up the monotony of playing one position. I enjoy going to different positions.”
Acta decided to approach Dunn as a way to get left fielder Josh Willingham in the lineup on occasion. Willingham has no experience in right field, and Acta didn’t want to throw him out there. The manager emerged impressed with Dunn’s modesty.
“Adam just continued to make me happy about being able to do whatever it takes to help us win,” Acta said. “I’m thrilled that Adam is able to go first, [left], right, whatever we want as long as he’s trying to help the team win.”
New 1-2 punch
This week’s demotion of Lastings Milledge to Class AAA Syracuse forced Acta to reconfigure the top of his lineup. For Thursday’s game, that meant a 1-2 punch of Anderson Hernandez and Nick Johnson.
That will change once Cristian Guzman returns from a hamstring strain - the shortstop was available to pinch hit in an emergency Thursday and should be fully back by the weekend - and takes over leadoff duties.
But Johnson will remain the No. 2 hitter for the immediate future, a spot Acta has wanted to use him at before but didn’t think he could because of the need for another big bat in the heart of the order.
“I always want to have a deep enough lineup that I could have Nick hit second,” the manager said.
New look
For Thursday’s game, the Nationals debuted a new alternate uniform featuring blue jerseys and caps with the interlocking “DC” logo filled in with stars and stripes.
The uniforms will be worn on Military Appreciation Nights (as was the case Thursday) as well as other home games with a patriotic theme, such as July 4 and Sept. 11.
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