Dickerson

[Kingspoint]

Don't forget that when a player develops, you hope that it's not consistent.

You hope that at certain points in his career "lights get turned on". This happened to Dickerson the last week of May last year when Bruce got called up.

Dickerson is not the player now that he was before May of last year. He is the player now that he was after that last week of May.

The only thing that could cause him to revert back to the "other" Chris Dickerson is if Dusty chooses not to play him.

Expect a decent Spring Training and decent stats in April and May. How many at-bats he's given in April and May will determine whether or not he is allowed to bloom fully.

[kfm]

I don't know what Dickerson is going to do this year, but I know both Dickerson and his coaches say that a light went off for him last year. I can't find the article but he said that he stopped trying to pull everything and that he finally started to trust his hands and know that he could hit the ball with authority the other way. He did not just have a good month in the majors (which is much easier to just dismiss) he had an incredible three months in the minors followed by an outstanding major league performance by a rookie. Maybe it was a four month fluke, or maybe the light did go on and he is on his way to being a very good major league outfielder. My point is this, it is just too simplistic to say look at his career minor league numbers and just accept that his mlb season was a fluke. You have to put into context and look at the changing batting style and mindsight that was followed by four straight months of outstanding produciton. Check out the article below, seems like Dickerson is on the rise, rather than a guy who had a lucky month.

DICKERSON, HANIGAN & ROSALES GET THE CALL: The Reds recalled OF Chris Dickerson yesterday to replace Adam Dunn who was traded to
Arizona on Monday. Dickerson made his ML debut Tuesday night vs. Pittsburgh and walked in his first at-bat; on the night he was 1-4 with a double, stolen base, run scored and walk. After batting a combined .238 in April and May, Dickerson warmed up with the summer, raising his average from .238 on May 31 to its current mark of .287. With Louisville, Dickerson has hit a combined .322 (65-202) during the months of June, July and August and is two RBI shy of matching his season-high of 55 RBI, set last season between Double-A Chattanooga (11) and Louisville (44). Dickerson’s 11 homers are also three shy of his season-high of 14 home runs in a season, set in 2007 (Chattanooga - 1, Louisville - 13). He has also reached base at home in 30 straight games, which is the longest home streak this season in the IL and by a Bats player (Andy Phillips - 27, Drew T. Anderson - 24). Yesterday
Dickerson was announced as Cincinnati’s Player of the Month for July (24 G, .330, 8 HR, 20 RBI, 7 SB).

[Jerome]

I like Dickerson's patience at the plate. At every level, he's had at least a 100 point increase in OBP over BA. Many young hitters have trouble adjusting to the strike zone, but he seems to have that zen-like nature at the plate. Then again, he does whiff a lot. If he bats .270 with 25 home runs, he's won my heart.

http://jeromesredscare.blogspot.com/...is%20Dickerson

[Kingspoint]

I don't know what Dickerson is going to do this year, but I know both Dickerson and his coaches say that a light went off for him last year. I can't find the article but he said that he stopped trying to pull everything and that he finally started to trust his hands and know that he could hit the ball with authority the other way. He did not just have a good month in the majors (which is much easier to just dismiss) he had an incredible three months in the minors followed by an outstanding major league performance by a rookie. Maybe it was a four month fluke, or maybe the light did go on and he is on his way to being a very good major league outfielder. My point is this, it is just too simplistic to say look at his career minor league numbers and just accept that his mlb season was a fluke. You have to put into context and look at the changing batting style and mindsight that was followed by four straight months of outstanding produciton. Check out the article below, seems like Dickerson is on the rise, rather than a guy who had a lucky month.

DICKERSON, HANIGAN & ROSALES GET THE CALL: The Reds recalled OF Chris Dickerson yesterday to replace Adam Dunn who was traded to
Arizona on Monday. Dickerson made his ML debut Tuesday night vs. Pittsburgh and walked in his first at-bat; on the night he was 1-4 with a double, stolen base, run scored and walk. After batting a combined .238 in April and May, Dickerson warmed up with the summer, raising his average from .238 on May 31 to its current mark of .287. With Louisville, Dickerson has hit a combined .322 (65-202) during the months of June, July and August and is two RBI shy of matching his season-high of 55 RBI, set last season between Double-A Chattanooga (11) and Louisville (44). Dickerson’s 11 homers are also three shy of his season-high of 14 home runs in a season, set in 2007 (Chattanooga - 1, Louisville - 13). He has also reached base at home in 30 straight games, which is the longest home streak this season in the IL and by a Bats player (Andy Phillips - 27, Drew T. Anderson - 24). Yesterday
Dickerson was announced as Cincinnati’s Player of the Month for July (24 G, .330, 8 HR, 20 RBI, 7 SB).

Nice to get some confirmation from someone else. It was very obvious to me at the time. I noticed it immediately after Bruce was called up that there was definitely something different about him. I'm with you and others that don't believe that his time from the last week of May on, was a fluke. It's unfortunate that people like Dusty Baker are too lazy to do enough homework to make sure they know what they're doing before they advocate to the General Manager that he wants a "proven" base-stealer to play Center Field.

The starting Center Fielder should be Dickerson, with Hairston in Left and Keppinger filling in at left and short and 3rd. At some point Votto's going to have to start playing some games in Left, also. Alonzo will be at GAB in Sep. I don't see where there's room for Taveras or Gomes or Luis Gonzalez.

Jockety is ignoring the change in Dickerson. There are also other AAA Outfielders from last year who might be capable of giving quality time in Left (and Center) throughout the year.

I hate the Gomes signing and any thought of bringing on Luis Gonzalez. The Tavares signing was stupid as they could have signed him for one year and they still would have held arbtration rights to him for the next season if he proved himself in 2009. I'd rather have Stubbs in 2010, anyway over everybody including Dickerson, who would be the Utility Outfielder behind Stubbs, Bruce, and Votto. Taveras just screws everything up. We also still have Owings if he flubs as a starter. I also like Sean Henry as a reserve in 2010, and Cumberland, too.

[Kingspoint]

Nice to get some confirmation from someone else. It was very obvious to me at the time. I noticed it immediately after Bruce was called up that there was definitely something different about him. I'm with you and others that don't believe that his time from the last week of May on, was a fluke. It's unfortunate that people like Dusty Baker are too lazy to do enough homework to make sure they know what they're doing before they advocate to the General Manager that he wants a "proven" base-stealer to play Center Field.

The starting Center Fielder should be Dickerson, with Hairston in Left and Keppinger filling in at left and short and 3rd. At some point Votto's going to have to start playing some games in Left, also. Alonzo will be at GAB in Sep. I don't see where there's room for Taveras or Gomes or Luis Gonzalez.

Jockety is ignoring the change in Dickerson. There are also other AAA Outfielders from last year who might be capable of giving quality time in Left (and Center) throughout the year.

I hate the Gomes signing and any thought of bringing on Luis Gonzalez. The Tavares signing was stupid as they could have signed him for one year and they still would have held arbtration rights to him for the next season if he proved himself in 2009. I'd rather have Stubbs in 2010, anyway over everybody including Dickerson, who would be the Utility Outfielder behind Stubbs, Bruce, and Votto. Taveras just screws everything up. We also still have Owings if he flubs as a starter. I also like Sean Henry as a reserve in 2010, and Cumberland, too.

....and then there's Danny Dorn in 2010, too.