Wrapping It Up On Corey Dickerson

Shortly after the Pirates traded for Corey Dickerson back in March, I expressed a concern that while the numbers on the back of his 2017 Tampa Bay baseball card looked quite good, his production dropped off alarmingly that season after the All-Star Game.  So, from time to time during this season, I have been putting Dickerson's season with the Pirates under the microscope to see just exactly how he's been doing.  Today, I want to take a final look at Dickerson's initial season with the Buccos.  Here it is, on a month-by-month basis:

(Disclaimer: I realizes that there are probably better ways to segment any player's season, but month-by-month was readily available on the Pirates website, so that's what you get from The Grandstander!)

Corey Dickerson - 2018	AB	Hits	BA	Runs	HR	RBI	OPS
March	6	1	0.167	1	0	1	0.333
April	93	30	0.323	15	3	15	0.907
May	101	31	0.307	9	2	15	0.799
June	76	20	0.263	8	0	1	0.603
July	70	28	0.400	17	6	12	1.253
August	90	19	0.211	4	0	2	0.486
September	68	22	0.324	11	2	9	0.920
YTD	504	151	0.300	65	13	65	0.804
Rank on team	2nd	2nd	1st	4th	3rd	6th	4th

Compared to 2017, Dickerson's HR totals decreased (27 to 13), RBI stayed constant (62 to 65), BA went up (.282 to .300), and OPS went down slightly (.815 to .804).  When you look at the bottom line, Dickerson had a pretty solid, if unspectacular, season as a Pirate.  And in the interests of looking at both sides of the ball, Dickerson had 263 defensive chances in the outfield this year and was charged with only one (1) error.  He had seven (7) assists, third among Pirate outfielders. 

What really strikes you though, is the peaks and valleys that comprised his season.   He started great in April into mid-May, slumped in June, had a great July, slumped in August, which also included some time on the DL, and had a strong September.  This is interesting, but how meaningful is it?  Well, take a look at what the Pirates as a team did on a month-by-month basis:

Pirates by Month 2018	Wins	Losses	%
March	1	0	1.000
April	16	12	0.571
May	12	15	0.444
June	10	16	0.385
July	17	9	0.654
August	10	17	0.370
September	16	10	0.615
TOTAL	82	79	0.509

Great start in April to mid-May, lousy in late May and June, a great July, lousy again in August, and a strong September.

Coincidence?  Can you say "As Dickerson goes, so go the Pirates"?  Of course, that is way too simple an explanation of the Pirates overall performance this season, but it is still kind of eerie, don't you think?

I am still formulating my final analysis of the 2018 Pirates, so watch for that in the days ahead.