Prospect Spotlight: Alex Dickerson Update

My first post for Rumbunter was a prediction. I claimed that Alex Dickerson would be the breakout prospect in the Pirate’s system for 2013. I even went as far as to compare him to Paul Goldschmidt. To be fair, this was before Goldschmidt blew up to possible MVP status.

Some probably laughed at me as Dickerson hit .185 in April with only 2 homers. No one is laughing now (except maybe a giddy Neal Huntington). In June and July, Dickerson is hitting .365 with 15 doubles, 9 HRs, 30 RBIs, and has an OPS of 1.035. To put it plainly, he is flat out raking.

This comes as no surprise: Dickerson has hit at every level he’s played at. He was a Triple Crown winner while at Indiana, tore up the New York-Pennsylvania League in 2011, and led Bradenton in almost every hitting statistic last year. Since coming back from an injury, Dickerson has adapted to AA pitching and is on a warpath.

Damn.

The jump from High-A to Double-A ball is considered the toughest promotion for a minor leaguer, so a slow start should have been expected. Unfortunately, Alex wasn’t given too much leeway and has fallen out of many people’s top prospect lists. He shouldn’t have. Dickerson is a hitter pure and simple.

His future position is likely first base. Because of this, there is some skepticism about his lack of power. Dickerson only hit 12 home runs last season but that was in a league known for its pitcher’s ballparks. Dickerson already has 12 bombs this season and has plenty of time to add to that total with over 40 games still left to play.

Dickerson should be higher up on the prospect list. A player who can hit for average and some power ought be more highly valued. Dickerson is still thriving at every level he’s faced and I don’t expected that to change. He still needs to work on his K/BB ratio but he still makes great hard contact. I have no doubt that Dickerson could be manning first base at PNC in the near future.