When you pick Adam Dunn for your fantasy baseball team, you have to be aware that he is not your typical ballplayer. You will never get a high batting average from him – his career average is .243, and the most he has ever batted in a year is .267. He strikes out more than anybody in the league – he has led the league in strikeouts three years, and is currently leading the American League in strikeouts in 2012. He doesn’t steal bases.

Why Dunn wasn’t picked up much in early 2012 by fantasy baseball players

So what does Dunn have to offer? He hits a lot of home runs, gets a bunch of RBIs, and walks a ton. Most years, that is. Dunn did have a very disappointing 2011, when Dunn batted just .159 and hit only 11 home runs, and drove in only 42 runs in 122 games. That’s not what you would expect of a player who was in the first year of a four-season, $56 million deal with the Chicago White Sox.

This meant that not as many fantasy baseball team owners picked up Dunn this year. In 2012, Dunn did not even make the top 200 players picked in most MLB fantasy drafts, and he barely cracked the top 250.

How Dunn is doing in 2012

Fortunately for fantasy baseball team owners who did take a chance on him, Adam Dunn’s 2012 is much better than his 2011. Whether it is partly due to a better comfort level with new manager Robin Ventura rather than Ozzie Guillen, who managed the White Sox last year, Dunn’s power numbers in the first half of the season are very good – he had 28 homers and 65 RBIs at press time. He also leads the American League in walks, home runs, and strikeouts (of course, the third category isn’t anything to get excited over!) In addition, he represented the White Sox in the All-Star Game.

What should you do in your league

Chances are that Dunn, who was so unpopular in this season’s fantasy drafts, may have already been picked up in your league during the season, as Dunn started hitting home runs again. However, if there is a chance that Dunn is still available in your fantasy baseball league, snatch him up. Not only will he get you good power numbers, but he is qualified in most fantasy leagues as DH, first base, and left field, giving you some versatility.  It turns out that Dunn’s career isn’t really done, after all, even though 2011 looked so abysmal for the 32-year-old.

Lisa Swan is a blog writer for sports sites like DraftStreet.com.