- Full name Andrew Dickinson
- Born
- Profile Throws: L
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Organization Prospect Rankings
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Dickinson had exceptional success at Illinois, winning Big 10 Conference pitcher of the year honors in 2001 and tying the Illini career record for victories with 30. He carried that over into his first taste of pro ball, overmatching the Northwest League and holding his own in the California League. The problem is that Dickinson doesn't throw hard. He rarely boosts his fastball to 85 mph, and he sometimes pitches in the high 70s. He does know how to turn the ball over, cut it and use every imaginable trick to retire hitters. He also throws a curveball, slider and changeup, and he'll vary the speeds on all of those pitches. Hitters get bad swings against him and often look worse than they do when they face 95 mph fastballs. Because of his utter lack of velocity, Dickinson is difficult to project. Some in the organization say he could emerge as the next Jamie Moyer, others think he might be best suited to a lefty specialist role, while still others consider his chances of success exceedingly slim. What is certain is that Dickinson possesses outstanding command and gets the most out of his abilities. The A's wanted him to work on his conditioning during the offseason and plan on sending him back to high Class A this year.