Friday, July 13, 2001
Griffey Sr. joins Dunn fan club
Likes what he saw in Louisville
By Chris Haft
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Hitting coach Ken Griffey Sr. has joined the rising chorus of Reds officials insisting that when Adam Dunn reaches Cincinnati, the left-field prospect must be in the lineup and not on the bench.
“If you want to get anything out of this kid in terms of power, the only thing you can do is let him play,” said Griffey, who watched Dunn with Triple-A Louisville a little more than a week ago. “Let him make his mistakes and live with it.”
Griffey, who rejoined the Reds on Thursday after taking three weeks to heal neck, back and left shoulder discomfort, was impressed with Dunn's adjustments to his swing since spring training.
“He had that big uppercut. Now he's swinging more on a level plane down through the ball,” Griffey said of Dunn, who padded his total of 30 home runs for Louisville and Double-A Chattanooga by blasting a pair in Wednesday's Triple-A All-Star Game and another in Sunday's Futures Game.
Though it's generally acknowledged that Dunn still must refine his defensive skills, Griffey said the 21-year-old slugger shouldn't be a disaster with the glove.
“He's probably going to be a lot better than (Greg) Luzinski or somebody like that,” Griffey said, referring to the plodding Philadelphia outfielder of the 1970s. “He'll probably play it like Dmitri (Young) does, maybe a little better than Dmitri.”
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Griffey Sr. joins Dunn fan club