Giants 2020 season preview: Left fielder Alex Dickerson

Alex Dickerson was able to ignite the San Francisco Giants offense last season. If he can stay healthy, he could do the same in 2020.

While he almost single-handedly ignited the offense for the San Francisco Giants last summer, injuries derailed Alex Dickerson‘s promising 2019. What can we expect from the left fielder during the 2020 season?

Last season, after Dickerson was acquired via trade from the San Diego Padres, he tore it up as a member of the Giants. In 171 plate appearances, he hit .290/.351/.529 with six home runs and 26 RBI.

The grand slam that he hit against the Arizona Diamondbacks last summer in his first start with the team was the catalyst that sent the Giants on to a red-hot summer that had people talking about a possible wild-card berth.

While the team ultimately came up short, that talk would never have started had it not been for Dickerson’s hot bat. Unfortunately, he got hurt and his production dipped once he returned, which coincided with the team cooling off as well.

Heading into 2020, Dickerson figures to get a good amount of playing time. Since the Giants brought back Hunter Pence, many have suggested a possible platoon between the two in left field.

That would make a lot of sense considering Dickerson hit .288/.345/.510 against righties last season and only .190/.227/.333 off of lefties. Meanwhile, Pence hit .327/.378/.636 against lefties last season, making him an ideal platoon partner.

Plus, with the recent injury history of both players, it would benefit them both to not have to play every single day and risk their bodies.

I think that if Dickerson can stay healthy, he can have a solid year for the Giants. He is projected to hit .263/.327/.470 with 11 home runs and 40 RBI. I would not be surprised if his average is a little better than that, but if the projections end up being accurate, I think we’d all be happy with a year like that from Dickerson.

The Giants are bound to have a sluggish offense this year, so it would not hurt to have Dickerson ignite the team every now and then like he was able to do last season.