The Elijah Dukes Enigma

Elijah Dukes might be crazy.  He’s been arrested at least three times for battery and once for assault, he’s fathered five children with four different women, he allegedly threatened to kill his wife and a 17 year old girl says he impregnated her.  When Dukes was traded to the Nationals the team also hired an ex-police officer in the role of “Special Assistant: Player Concerns”. This person accompanies Dukes everywhere to ensure that he keeps himself free of trouble.  So why on earth does Dukes keep getting second chances?  The answer is simple, Dukes is a damn talented baseball player. Dukes came up with the Rays and as a 22 year old he hit .293/.401/.488 with 9 steals and 10 home runs in 80 games.  He made his MLB debut in 2007 and despite struggling to hit for average, .190, he still manged to have a .318 on base percentage and a .390 slugging percentage.   When you factor in that he had a .192 BABIP and .201 ISOP (isolated power) you can see why he would make scouts drool. However, to no ones surprise, Dukes attitude lead to Tampa deciding to cut the cord with him despite his immense potential.  Dukes was traded to Washington at the outset of the 2008 season.  In 2008 Dukes again proved that he is worth the trouble.  Though limited to 81 games due to various injuries Dukes posted an impressive .264/.386./.478 line while stealing 13 bases and hitting 13 home runs.  Many thought that 2009 was going to be Dukes breakout campaign.  Baseball Prospectus’s usually deadly accurate PECOTA projection projected Dukes to hit .278/.385/.485 with 19 home runs and 17 steals.  It seemed a 20/20 season in 2009 was in reach. Until today 2009 was a lost year for Dukes. In the off-season the Nationals had signed Adam Continue reading The Elijah Dukes Enigma