MILWAUKEE — This isn't the finish Corey Dickerson envisioned for himself or the Pirates. He was among the hottest hitters in the majors only two months ago, a catalyst in the team's meteoric rise from irrelevance to contention.
Now he's part of an offense in free fall, as illustrated by their five-hit performance in a 3-1 win over the Brewers at Miller Park on Saturday night. Dickerson walked twice and had another strikeout, his 29th in 33 games since returning from the disabled list Aug. 4.
His and the Pirates' struggles began July 25, when Dickerson pulled his hamstring running out a ground ball in Cleveland. Ten days on the disabled list was enough for him to lose his timing at the plate, and there are now only 15 games remaining for him to find a solution before a long offseason.
"It’s been tough because I tried to come back at a fast pace," Dickerson, who walked twice Saturday, told DKPittsburghSports.com. "Tried to get our team back into contention, actual contention. When you come back, it’s more about plans and doing less. When you come back from the DL you try to do more and your timing’s not there. You fight with that stuff. You’re fighting consistency and all those things. It’s not like you get that time back."
Dickerson's tried everything. He's tried to stick to one approach at the plate, reverting back to his old swing instead of choking up on the bat handle. There's been exhaustive work in the cage and during batting practice. Yet, his relentless work ethic has created a few bad habits since he returned from the disabled list Aug. 4.
Dickerson's put pressure on himself to produce, causing him to swing with reckless abandon rather than having a calculated approach. He's never been a selective hitter; however, his timing allowed him to make contact up until he landed on the disabled list. That hasn't been the case since his return.
Dickerson's batted .205/.218/.252 with 29 strikeouts to four walks since being activated. He has only five RBIs during that span and hasn't homered since July 22 in Cincinnati. This after he batted .400 with a 1.253 OPS, six home runs and 12 RBIs in 17 games during July. His swinging strike percentage is up nearly six percent, while he's swinging at more pitches out of the zone.
As a result, his ground-ball rate and whiff rate have both increased. Bad luck may be a factor, as illustrated by a .270 batting average on balls in play, and his hard-contact rate is up. Still, Dickerson measures progress by results.
"The hard contact is still there, but when they’re not finding holes you’re mentally seeing it as outs," he said. "You’re not seeing it as productivity. When you’re going good, getting hits and hitting the ball hard, even those outs feel productive. You don’t want to overwork or do too much. You want to be able to simplify your mind and continue with the same routine. It’s really mental. It’s allowing yourself to go and know you’ll have success."
There are statistical similarities between what's occurred the past five weeks and Dickerson's second half last season. He was an American League All-Star for the Rays in 2017 after hitting 17 home runs with a .909 OPS in the first half, but that was followed by a steady decline over the final 65 games. Dickerson batted .220 in July, .243 in August and .231 in September.
That dip, he said, was the result of not being able to perform strength training the previous offseason after an injury-shortened season in 2016. While Dickerson is determined to finish strong, he's found solace in the fact he's addressed two of his greatest weaknesses: defense and strikeouts.
Dickerson ranks first among qualified NL left fielders with 13 defensive runs saved — he posted negative-1 last season — while starting a career-high 112 games in the outfield, and he illustrated that progress again Saturday with this leaping catch to rob Christian Yelich in the sixth inning:
Also, he's cut his strikeout total in half, from 152 last season to 75 in 2018. Additionally, his whiff rate on fastballs was among the worst in the majors last season, and he's slashed it by almost 14 percent using his two-strike approach.
"People don’t understand what I went through [in 2016] and the strides I’ve made this year," Dickerson said. "My two goals were to be a better defensive player and strike out half the time. I‘ve done those two things. It’s always important to finish strong, but we’re out of it. I want to do well, but we want to play meaningful games. That’s where the real caring matters."
The Pirates still need more from Dickerson. He'll receive a raise through arbitration after making $5.95 million this season. Their lineup could be dotted with contact hitters who have little power potential, particularly with Gregory Polanco potentially out until mid-June. Dickerson's hit only 11 home runs, 16 fewer than last season and his fewest since hitting 10 in 65 games in 2015.
He also has only 49 RBIs and his .320 on-base percentage is below league average. Dickerson transformed from free swinger to two-strike savant upon being acquired from the Rays in February, choking up four inches on his bat handle one pitch and using a big swing with his pinkie on the knob the next.
Clint Hurdle was mesmerized by the unorthodox approach, beaming that he's seen few players ever choke up so high and have success. Yet, he's now urging Dickerson to pick one swing and stick with it. Whatever it takes to finish strong.
"I think he's just trying to find something that's competitive and works well right now," Hurdle said. "His numbers are down since he's come back. That's one of those hard parts about the game. He was in the hottest spot he's been in all year and then he gets hurt. Whatever you end up fighting, whether it's looking for that feeling or just going up and having a good at-bat. It goes back to us encouraging him to commit to one thing for a while and see where that takes you."
1. Nova finds an answer for Shaw.
Ivan Nova's been hit hard by Brewers second baseman Travis Shaw. That's no secret. Entering Saturday, Shaw had 12 hits in 16 career at-bats against Nova, including three home runs and eight RBIs.
Nova won this matchup, though. He retired Shaw on three different pitches in three at-bats, capped by a fly out to end the sixth inning, though he nearly paid for throwing a hanging curveball. Nova, 31, pitched through the sixth inning for the fifth time in his last six starts and is now 7-3 this season when doing so.
He held the Brewers' left-handed hitters to a combined 2 for 10, though one of those hits was a solo home run by Yelich in the first inning. Still, Nova allowed only one run on four hits with four strikeouts to earn his ninth win of the season.
"Perfect," Nova said when asked how well he executed his pitches. "Every pitch. Cervi and I had a game plan. He gave the sign, and I just followed him."
Nova has a 2.62 ERA over his last six starts and has taken the mound 27 times this season despite missing time because of a sprained finger in May. That he's pitching so well in September is a testament to how much he worked last offseason, Hurdle said. Nova lost 10 pounds to better prepare himself to make 30 starts after he struggled in the second half of last season.
He pitched six scoreless innings with nine strikeouts in a win over the Marlins last week and has not allowed more than four earned runs in a start since July 3. "Really good fastball command, and he was able to work in his curveball as well," Hurdle said. "The changeup may have been the difference-maker for him tonight with all the left-handers they had in the lineup and these guys have seen him a few times."
2. Cervelli expresses regret after ejection.
Francisco Cervelli yelled one last sentence to provoke home plate Tripp Gibson into ejecting him in the sixth inning. Cervelli argued two called strikes, including one for strike three, before voicing his displeasure with Gibson. Hurdle successfully ushered Cervelli back toward the dugout after the exchange, but Cervelli yelled over his shoulder to get thrown out.
It was this pitch that irked Cervelli and began the exchange:
"I lost my temper there and shouldn’t do that," Cervelli said. "I’m an intense guy. I play this game with a lot of passion, so sometimes my brain explodes, especially in those situations when I haven’t been so locked in the box in a long time. Today I was really locked in and recognizing every pitch. I thought it was a bad call and I told him. But I didn’t have an answer. He just told me to walk away. I should do it different. I’ve been in this game long enough."
Hurdle then stormed over to home plate, where he screamed at Gibson until crew chief Brian Gorman walked over to shield the Pirates' manager from the umpire. In the end, Hurdle was also ejected for the third time this season.
"I think one of my jobs as manager is getting the player out," Hurdle said. "We were around home plate all together and I was able to get him, finally walk him away. Francisco said something back to him. To throw him while he was walking away, I just don’t get that. That’s what really flipped my switch."
That forced Nova to switch catchers for the bottom of the sixth inning, when the top of the order was due up. With Jacob Stallings behind the plate, Nova allowed a two-out single to Lorenzo Cain before getting Shaw for the final out.
"I’ve got to hold myself and keep catching for this guy because he threw an amazing game," Cervelli added.
3. Bell hustling.
Josh Bell's been a disappointment, perhaps the most troubling one on the roster. He's not hitting for power and has shown no signs of being the run producer he was as a rookie in 2017. But there are few professional athletes I've been around who self-evaluate and work tirelessly to correct their mistakes the way he does.
And he hustles no matter what. The same can't be said for every player on this team, and the value of doing so was powerfully illustrated in the fourth inning when Bell grounded into the shift between first and second. The ball was deep enough to force Shaw to retreat towards the outfield grass, giving Bell enough time to reach safely.
The first baseman then scored all the way from first when Cervelli hit a fair ball that bounced and caromed off the wall in foul territory. Smart baseball plays are often overlooked over a 162-game season, but it's time to acknowledge how he's still following the details. Bell will rebound in 2019. Hitting 26 homers as a rookie is no fluke, and he continues to show he's willing to do whatever it takes to get back there.
