Filed Under » Chicago White Sox

Chicago White Sox slugger Adam Dunn said today that he is dedicated to turning his 2011 season around, which has so far gotten off to a rough start. Dunn, who signed a 4-year, $56 million deal with Chicago before the season, is hitting just .160 with a .294 OBP, 11 home runs and 174 strikeouts through the season’s first 160 games.

“I’ve always been a slow starter,” said Dunn. “Like, last year with the Nationals I hit only .225 in April. The only difference now is that it’s 65 points lower and it’s through April, May, June, July, August and the majority of September. But I feel my swing starting to come.”

Dunn has seen his plate appearances drop off in the second half of the season as his production stayed low, a fact he admits angered him.

“I’m just trying to shake those spring training cobwebs off and they pull the plug on me after 350 or so at-bats?” he said. “I mean, what’s the big rush?”

The Chicago White Sox attempted to rid themselves of Adam Dunn by repeatedly throwing at his head during pregame batting practice last night.

Dunn is hitting .165 and is on pace to have the worst average by a player qualifying for the batting title since 1909. For that reason, the designated hitter saw five fastballs right at his head when he stepped in for some pregame swings.

Unfortunately for the White Sox, Dunn was not struck in the face by any of the pitches. So they pulled their coach who throws batting practice and brought in fireballing reliever Sergio Santos, who was given a 100-pitch limit to injure Dunn and knock him out for the season or — if lucky — end his career.

“We’ve been trying to build up Sergio’s arm strength for weeks to get ready for this day,” said White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen. “Is it good for a reliever to throw that many pitches? No. But if taking Adam out means we lose a reliever, too, I am okay with that. He’s killed our whole team, what’s one more player?”