Dickey takes it slowly
PEORIA, Ariz. – R.A. Dickey isn’t yet a lock to make the Mariners roster but the veteran knuckleballer is making it tough for Seattle to cut him.
To help his cause, the 33-year-old has added a new but slower version of his specialty pitch.
Dickey broke out the pitch in the fifth inning Sunday against the Los Angeles Angels, striking out Garret Anderson with it.
”(It) was the first real slow knuckleball I threw this spring,” Dickey said. “I think the reason Garret missed that one was not so much the movement but the change of speed. I’d thrown him four straight knuckleballs that were hard, and then threw him one that was really, really slow, like 60 mph maybe.”
In the past, Dickey has said his normal knuckleball clocks in faster than 80 mph, or about 10 mph faster than most knuckleballers. The addition of a slower version should make the right-hander more effective.
He held off using it for most of the spring, though, because the dry Arizona air limits the movement on it and because he wanted to concentrate on his normal knuckler.
“Out here the slow one just doesn’t move,” said Dickey, who has only three walks in 15 innings this spring. “There’s just nothing for it to bite into. So you don’t want to overexpose that pitch. It’s something I’m going to do during the season. It’s just hard to do down here with how competitive it is and trying to make a ballclub and all that.”
“I still have enough fastball to still be able to pitch with my other stuff, so for me the transformation into being a hard knuckleballer was the natural thing to do. I left the slow one behind as my main knuckleball and embraced the harder one. But I still have the experience of that slower one. It’s a good weapon, but it’s still got to be used at the right time for me.”
Seattle manager John McLaren liked what he saw from Dickey in that Sunday appearance and had to like his performance Thursday against San Francisco even more.
Dickey made a spot start for the split squad Mariners and held the Giants scoreless for five innings. He gave up just one hit while walking three and striking out two.
“I showed enough speed that I was effectively wild,” said Dickey, who’s trying to make the team as a long reliever. “I was able to keep their timing off. The pitch was really moving tonight.”
Mariners blast Cubs
Seattle Mariners starter Carlos Silva looked ready for the regular season. His counterpart, the Chicago Cubs’ Ted Lilly, did not.
With the wind blowing out Friday, Silva gave up a run and three hits in five innings and the Mariners beat the Cubs 10-2 in Las Vegas in a game that featured seven homers, six by the Mariners.
Kenji Johjima hit a three-run homer in a four-run eighth inning for Seattle. Adrian Beltre and Raul Ibanez each belted two-run homers, while Jose Lopez, Mike Morse and Brad Wilkerson each had solo home runs for the winners.