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Alex Dickerson
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FIRST BASEMAN
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Born: May 26, 1990 Height: 6’3″ Weight: 225 Bats: Left Throws: Left Drafted: 3rd Round, 91st Overall, 2011 How Acquired: Draft College: Indiana University Agent: N/A |
WTM’S PIRATE PLAYER PROFILES |
| Dickerson was one of the better hitters available in the 2011 draft. He won the Big Ten triple crown as a sophomore, but fell off as a junior. There were probably several factors in this, including some back problems, the new college bats and the fact that teams pitched around him. He has power to all fields and, according to Baseball America, showed a willingness to go the other way when teams refused to pitch him on the inner half of the plate. Dickerson was an outfielder in college, but the Pirates shifted him to first base. He doesn’t run well, had below average range in left, and doesn’t have a good arm, so the move makes sense, not least because the Pirates have nothing at the major league level that might block him. His selection, following their second round gamble on Josh Bell, probably signals a realization that they desperately need more hitting, especially power hitting, in their system. He signed in mid-July.
2011 Had a solid debut at State College, hitting a lot of doubles and ranking 11th on BA’s list of the top twenty New York-Penn League prospects. He had only three HRs, but that could change as he gets more time with wood bats. Even Brad Eldred had a lot more doubles than HRs in the NYPL. Dickerson’s plate discipline was alright and he hit LHPs better than RHPs (.936 OPS vs. .868), so hopefully there won’t be any platoon issues. He played first exclusively. 2012 As an advanced college hitter, Dickerson opened at Bradenton rather than West Virginia. He had a mildly disappointing season, finishing with solid numbers but not dominating, and not showing more than moderate HR power. He started off slowly, hitting only two HRs and slugging just .357 in the first two months. After that he slugged .507. On the season he slugged .485 with nine HRs at home and only .417 with four HRs on the road. McKechnie Field is a very good park for left-handed power hitters, but then the rest of the Florida State League is terrible for power hitters generally, so it’s hard to say what this shows. He had no platoon split at all. Dickerson had 17 errors, but he didn’t have much previous experience at first. He was chosen the best defensive firstbaseman in the FSL, but those selections can be very eccentric. Dickerson will be at Altoona in 2013. He may have to share firstbase and DH with Matt Curry, and may see time in the outfield while Curry is there. As a college hitter and a player who’s limited to first base, you’d like to see him dominate to a greater extent than he did in 2012. He needs to put up good numbers in AA from an early stage to show that he’s the kind of hitter who could start at first in the majors. |
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STATS
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| Baseball Reference–Minors Fangraphs MiLB.com |
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CONTRACT INFORMATION
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| 2013: Minor league contract. |
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PLAYER INFORMATION
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| Signing Bonus: $380,700 MiLB Debut: 2011 MLB Debut: MiLB FA Eligible: 2017 MLB FA Eligible: Rule 5 Eligible: 2014 Added to 40-Man: Options Remaining: 3 MLB Service Time: 0.000 |
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TRANSACTIONS
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| June 6, 2008: Drafted by the Washington Nationals in the 48th round, 1432nd overall pick. June 7, 2011: Drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 3rd round, 91st overall pick; signed on July 14, 2011. |
