Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports
Alex Dickerson didn’t sound like a conquering hero returning home.
“Gonna have to leave a bunch of tickets again. There’s nothing big about it really. It’s another baseball game,” the emerging outfielder said Sunday at Oracle Park, before the series finale against Arizona and before the Giants hit the road for a series against San Diego beginning Monday.
Dickerson, who grew up right outside San Diego, had been in the Padres’ system since 2014 until he was DFA’d early this month. The Giants took a chance on the oft-injured 29-year-old, and in a limited sample size, he’s shown real potential.
In nine games, he’s slashing .367/.441/.767, the legend of Dick growing with each at-bat. Dickerson conceded it would be fun “seeing some of the old faces again, getting to play against guys I know,” but downplayed the series’ significance. He is not trying to show his old franchise what it’s missing.
“They know what kind of player I was. For the most part, they’d had it with my injuries, said it was time to move on. That’s perfectly fine, that’s their decision,” said Dickerson, who lost all of 2017 and ’18 to injuries. “And that’s where we’re at now. I still have a lot of good things to say about them. They hung with me through a lot of tough times and gave me a lot of my greatest experiences as a big leaguer.”
Dickerson was out of the lineup Sunday against lefty Robbie Ray, but Bruce Bochy signaled that he still would see time in the lineup with three more southpaws on tap.
“There’s a time where you just move forward, and I’m going to be on the other side,” Dickerson said. “Just going to have fun playing a baseball game against them.”
Madison Bumgarner has a chance to eclipse Tim Lincecum in the Giants’ all-time strikeout record books, needing 10 to pass him. Entering Sunday, Bumgarner had 1,695, the third most in San Francisco history, and Lincecum had 1,704. Juan Marichal is first with 2,281.
“I didn’t realize that. It says a lot about him. Obviously, longevity is part of it,” Bochy said, pointing out that Bumgarner’s recent injuries have been fluky, a dirt bike accident and getting hit by a line drive. “His legacy will always be the postseason and what a great performer he is under pressure. … Never had an arm injury. He takes such good care of himself.”
Steven Duggar went 1-for-3 in his first rehab game with Triple-A Sacramento on Saturday night. Bochy reported no issues.
