Sleeper profile: Chris Dickerson
February 10, 2009 by Alex Geshwind
For the first few years of his proffesional career Chri Dickerson struggled. He never hit more than 13 home runs and his BA was always well under .280. His K rate was always way to high, and although he had a nice looking OBP he just didn’t do enough to justify moving up.
But last season, in the second half, he made major progress. His .287/.384/.479 batting line, after struggling the first few months of the year got him called up to the big leagues. In 31 games Dickerson was golden. He put up .304/.413/.608 with 6 homers and 5 steals in those 31 games, and will certainly get a look for the starting LF job in spring.
Now we can’t get to excited. Dickerson wasn’t anything special for a good portion of his minor league career. He is 27, and he strikesout way too much. But there’s something there.
First of all he’s very speedy and his OBP has always been high, making him a great bet for 25 or more steals if he grabs a lineup spot. He stole 21, 26, and 23 bases during his 3 full minor league years, and given 550 ABs, he could really contribute there. He also has some power. Although his power numbers were never that high, his HR and SLG improved throughout his minor league career and those 6 late season homers look awfully good.
Where you pick this guy depends on whether he gets the job. If he looks like the starter in spring, he’s a good 5th or 6th outfielder type with a very high celing. If not, he’s not worth a roster spot in mixed leagues. On draft day you may not know, although he’s worth a shot, and in NL only leagues is an outstanding pickup. I really think his upside is somewhere near 25-25, with a .280 average, and a decent number of runs at the top of the Reds order.
Later this week – Brandon Wood, SS/3B, Angels.
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