Can Dickey keep it up?

[Friar Fanatic]

Can he keep it up? Is he gonna win the Cy Young? Thoughts?

[snepp]

Re: Can Dickey keep it up?

Yes. Yes. No.

[ImTellinTim]

Re: Can Dickey keep it up?

I'll go ahead and get this out of the way:

Spoiler

You asked if Dickey can keep it up.

Commence with actual discussion.

[BunnyHardaway]

Re: Can Dickey keep it up?

I'll go ahead and get this out of the way:

Spoiler

You asked if Dickey can keep it up.

Commence with actual discussion.

Uh huh huh...Dickey.

[SPTO]

Re: Can Dickey keep it up?

Wilbur Wood (another knuckler) had amazing seasons in '72 and '73 as the White Sox would trot him out there for big games and what not. In both seasons he had over 20 wins and 40+ starts which even back in his day was quite a feat. Dickey pitches a bit differently than the classic knuckleballer but I think he can keep it going as sometimes the knuckleball just floats around magically for one season or two.

He may very well win the Cy Young award.

[djep]

Re: Can Dickey keep it up?

Heh heh...Wood and Dickey.

Sorry

[newlyclassic]

Re: Can Dickey keep it up?

Never know with a knuckleballer. We will see how the pitch holds up in the dog days of Summer. If I were the Mets general manager sitting on a 37-year-old starting pitcher with a 2.00 ERA I might want to sell high. Especially if I know I'm not looking at an honest to goodness October push.

[IK720]

Re: Can Dickey keep it up?

It is possible. It is so hard to tell with a knuckleballer. His stats are so far out of the normal for him I would have to say he'll come crashing back to normalcy soon. Here are some stats that say this to me..

- He has never had a BB/9 rating below 2 in his career, and he has put up a BB/9 over 4 three times (which he currently has a 1.9 I think)
- K/9 ratio is nearly double any other season in his career (he is 31 shy of tying his total from last year in 200+ innings)
- He has 3 complete games this season and 4 in the previous 9 seasons
- Career WHIP (walk+hits/inning pitched) is 1.349 .. his WHIP currently is 0.889 which is just rediculous


Just my thoughts.. It certainly would be a great story if he kept it up all season.

[snepp]

Re: Can Dickey keep it up?

You can't directly compare what he's doing now to what he did in the past, he simply isn't the same pitcher now. It would be like Juan Pierre growing 4 inches, putting on 100 pounds of muscle, and turning into Barry Bonds, past performance becomes largely irrelevant.

[Blzer]

Re: Can Dickey keep it up?

The thing about R.A. Dickey is that, as long as he can be in control, you can't really expect anything different from him results-wise. This isn't like an up and coming young stud pitcher who hasn't been seen very much. This is a pitcher who will throw you something, and you know exactly what that something is.

Therein lies the problem. A knuckleball is difficult to hit, even difficult to catch. His comes in quickly, so it has late last-minute movement. It's not that people can't make contact off of it, but just as people might swing at it, it will move half an inch up, down, off, or in on your bat, resulting in worse contact.

As long as he can command his knuckleball and have some speed on it, there isn't any reason why he shouldn't be successful pitching in NL East parks.

[12]

Re: Can Dickey keep it up?

I sure hope so. I am reading his book currently and wish him nothing but the best.

I think his numbers will tail off a bit, but how could they not? He is ridiculous right now. I could see him finishing with 20-22 wins and an ERA in the 2.5 range or so. The strikeouts have been the real surprise so far. He'll end up with at least 180 K's, which is pretty impressive for a knuckle ball pitcher.

This guy is 37, but with the lack of strain that he is putting on his arm, he could realistically pitch at a solid level for the next five to eight years if he chooses to.