Cardinals Sign Corey Dickerson

photo: Corey Dickerson (Charles LeClaire/USA TODAY Sports)

The St. Louis Cardinals have found their part-time designated hitter and fourth or fifth outfielder. On Thursday, Corey Dickerson agreed to a one-year contract for a reported $5 million plus incentives. MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand was first with the news, and Derrick Goold of the Post-Dispatch provided the finances. The signing will not be official until Dickerson passes his physical examinations.

Corey Dickerson

Dickerson is a left-handed hitter who does most of his damage against right-handed pitchers. The 32-year-old has a career 121 wRC+ when he has the platoon advantage and a career 87 wRC+ when he does not.

Dickerson is very firmly in the platoon player category, so it seems unlikely that he will be the Cardinals full-time designated hitter. Rather, his left-handed bat could pair nicely with Juan Yepez’s right-handed bat to give the Cardinals plenty of production and matchup options.

In 2021, Dickerson split the season between Miami and Toronto, while playing better with the Blue Jays (107 wRC+) than with the Marlins (96 wRC+). He also had a down year at the plate in 2020, also with the Marlins, as he tallied a 95 wRC+, making 2020 the first year that he was a below average hitter since 2013.

Between 2014 and 2019, Dickerson averaged just under a 120 wRC+ while playing for four different teams. The outfielder is also familiar with the NL Central as he had perhaps the best stretch of his career playing for the Pirates. In Pittsburgh in 2018-2019, Dickerson collected 3.4 fWAR in 179 games.

Dickerson puts a lot of balls in play as he walks at a below average rate but also strikes out less than the average player. Thus, quality of contact is especially important for Dickerson. His average exit velocity hasn’t been above 88 mph since before 2018 and he had just a 23rd percentile exit velocity last year (87.8 mph). This may be why Dickerson’s power numbers have been down in the past two seasons, but he still has a strong history of hitting for power.

In both 2020 and 2021, the outfielder’s ISO dropped below .150, but he has a career ISO of .205 and he posted a career high .262 ISO in 2019. He has clubbed 128 home runs in his career and has cleared 20 in three different seasons.

Defensively, Dickerson has played all three outfield positions, though he has spent the most time in left field by far. Having him in the outfield will represent a downgrade defensively for the Cardinals, but that’s only because the starting outfield is so strong defensively. Dickerson is about an average defender, though, so he is certainly playable outside of the DH spot.

The 32-year-old’s best days seem to be behind him, but he is still a strong right-handed bat who gives the Cardinals options in the outfield and at the DH spot. All three of the Cardinals’ outfielders have had more success against left-handed pitchers in their career, so Dickerson provides a nice right-handed complement.

Lars Nootbaar is also a left-handed hitter, so he and Dickerson will be fighting for playing time in the outfield, but Dickerson should see more time as a DH than Nootbaar. Depending on the roster size, there may not be room for the rookie with St. Louis initially.

This signing seems to potentially cut into Juan Yepez’s playing time as well, but it gives the Cardinals an experienced and talented bench option. It can’t hurt to have another good hitter. Ultimately it may come down to new manager Oli Marmol finding the right balance of playing time for all of his bench players.

St. Louis’ 40-man roster is now 39 deep, with a total of 61 players in their spring camp.


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