Player Profile: Corey Dickerson

Dickerson is a strange breed of lead off hitter. He swings at virtually everything he sees and all but refuses to take any walks. This year walking in less than 5% of his at bats. He is the second most aggressive hitter in baseball, offering at almost 60% of the pitches he is thrown (league average is 46%). In addition to his seemingly impatient approach, his 75% contact rate is not one you like to see for a lineup catalyst. In fact that places him 117th of 165 qualified hitters for contact percentage. His swing happy approach extends well beyond the strike zone. Dickerson leads the big leagues with a 47.5% O-Swing Percentage. This is a fancy way of saying he swings at damn near half of pitches outside of the strike zone, which is worst in the league. Dickerson does have some pop in his bat, but it seems to be generating from somewhere other than his 86.9 MPH AEV (Average Exit Velocity). If you made it this far, congratulations because none of those metrics matter for Dickerson. Or at least it seems that way. Despite Dickerson’s unconventional approach, it obviously is working well for him. He still seems to see an above average amount of pitches per plate appearance. This must be a result of a very good contact rate on the pitches outside the zone. Dickerson is a tough out and a frustrating one for opposing pitchers. Constantly spoiling what would be put away pitches and turning them into extra base hits. His batting average seen here is incredible considering the placement of some of these zones.

Dickerson is a bad ball hitter and a good one. He sprays the ball all over the ball park, taking exactly what the pitcher is giving him, which maximizes his power to all fields. His Exit Velocity isn’t ideal but he is the same hitter he has been for years and the results do not lie. Dickerson has the 11th highest slugging percentage in the majors since his first full season of at bats in 2014. This places him above players like Josh Donaldson, Bryce Harper, Anthony Rizzo, & Freddie Freeman. Dickerson takes a different route his production but produce is what he does.