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The Diamondbacks land Dunn in an effort to boost their offensive production, which has been lackluster for most of this season. The team has also been dealing with injuries in their outfield. Outfielder Eric Byrnes (hamstring) is out for the season with a torn hamstring. Outfielder Justin Upton (oblique) is currently on the disabled list with a strained oblique but is expected to return next week.
Dunn is hitting .233 on the year with 32 home runs, which is tied for the National League lead, and 74 RBI in 373 at-bats. He has also struck out 120 times this season to go along with 80 walks.
With outfielder Conor Jackson entrenched in left field after his move from first base, Dunn is expected to see time at right field and first base. Dunn is hitting .248 with 25 home runs against righties this year. Against right-handed pitchers, Dunn figures to be placed in right field, with infielder Chad Tracy at first base. Against lefties, a returning Upton could be in right field with Dunn lining up at first base.
Buck has bounced around between low Single-A South Bend and high Single-A Visalia with the Diamondbacks this year. He is 1-5 with a 3.55 ERA this season in the minor leagues. The righty underwent Tommy John surgery last season.
On the fantasy side of things the move to Arizona does not figure to affect Dunn all that much, especially since he will be slugging in another hitters' park. Continue to play him in your lineup as you have all season long.
This knocks Tracy's value down a bit because he was an everyday player before Dunn's arrival. Tracy has had a productive season with 31 RBI in just 57 games. He likely will now lose at-bats against left-handed pitchers, but he's still a good bench player for deep mixed leagues and a solid corner infielder in NL-only leagues.
Fantasy owners should only look at Buck in keeper formats, but since his role is undetermined he likely won't be fantasy-relevant for at least another year.
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