Cardinals Notes: Thoughts on Jack Flaherty, pitching, Corey Dickerson

Corey Dickerson

We often don’t give Mozeliak much credit, but the signing of left-handed hitting outfielder Corey Dickerson was a good move. Dickerson will give the Cardinals what they needed the most on the bench: a decent left-handed bat.

Dickerson should be a good platoon split option for Cardinal Manager Oliver Marmol. He has a career .845 OPS against right handed pitchers and could be used as a DH or a left handed bat coming off the bench. Prior to 2020, he had a career OPS+ of 119 and a SLG of .504.

However, since 2019, injuries to the 32-year-old have reduced his power. But after a trade to the Blue Jays last year, he hit .282/.329/.450 with an 110 OPS+ in 46 games.

Although not a great defensive outfielder, he still is slightly above average. He has one Gold Glove he earned in Pittsburgh in 2018, but in his career, he has a 3 OAA.

Here are my three thoughts on the Dickerson signing.

(1) The Cardinals signed him to a one-year, $5 million contract. It doesn’t tie down much money, so there’s not much to lose here.

(2) Many are wondering what Dickerson’s signing means for Lars Nootbaar. I don’t see him going anywhere. He will be the No. 5 outfielder and still a left-handed bench option for Marmol.

(3) Having Dickerson on the roster with Nootbaar is a significant improvement, especially when you look at last year’s reserve outfield of Austin Dean, Scott Hurst and Justin Williams.