An Interview with RHP Michael Dimock

I'll admit it. I first became intrigued by Michael Dimock because of this ~

Michael Dimock - Spring Training 2013

Photo by Jayne Hansen

A quality mustache and an ironic eyebrow raise will win my heart every time. But then I looked beyond the outstanding facial hair and found a pitcher who has been having a pretty darned good season. In 10 appearances out of the bullpen with Quad Cities, Dimock had a 3.09 ERA and a 0.771 WHIP. In 10 appearances at Lancaster, he has a 3.55 ERA and a 0.868 WHIP. Erase his one tough outing at Lancaster and that becomes a 1.54 ERA and a 0.686 WHIP. He has walked only five batters all season and has held batters to a .174 batting average.

Lancaster Pitching Coach Don Alexander likes what he sees in Dimock so far, "He's been here a short amount of time, but in the time he's been here, I've been very impressed with his work. Not afraid to challenge hitters in the strike zone, works at the bottom of the zone real well. Nice fastball/slider combination. Fastball's got a little movement down in the zone. Uses both sides of the plate well. Slider's got some late bite to it. Mixes in an occasional change up, probably his third pitch, but it has some effectiveness when he uses it."

I caught up with Dimock recently and talked to him about his season so far and what he's been working on among other things (edited for brevity and clarity) ~

What has he accomplished and what is he working on?: "Obviously, I don't think that I'm nearly as good as I could be. There's more room for improvement in all aspects of the game. Here, with the wind, I've learned to keep the ball down. That's the main key. In Quad Cities and other places, you can really get away with it. You can let balls get a bit higher in the zone, but once you get here, you need to really bear down in the zone and really work getting ground balls, work getting weak contact. [Does pitching at Lancaster help you learn how to pitch?] It really distinguishes between the guys who can get away with a little more velocity and the guys who can spot up and get the weak contact, get the weak fly ball, weak ground ball. It's a lot different. It's a tough way of making you learn. If you leave a ball high up, you're going to get let known and it's going to stick with you for the rest of the night, but really if you bear down and work down in the zone, [you'll be fine]."

On his small number of walks this year: "That's the thing that I've really worked on. Especially from last year, my walks went up and after the season, I kind of looked at everything, all my stats and I looked at the stuff I wanted to improve and that was the main thing. I wanted to become more of a contact pitcher. Instead of missing bats, I wanted to let them make weak contact so I can get under four pitches and out of there."

On having better numbers against lefties this year: "It's actually not normal. Normally, I've been really good against righties. My slider's been my out pitch against them, but so far I've really worked on things with Donny [Don Alexander] and I've kind of worked on my change up too and that's really helped me get lefties out. I've worked on my two-seamer a lot and I just run it in and out. Keep[ing] them off-balance has been the key."

How is he adjusting to his first full season?: "I'm kind of used to playing a lot of games, from playing college to summer ball to winter, fall league and all that stuff, [but] it's still an adjustment. It's just all about working hard in the off-season so you feel prepared enough to take the daily grind of the 140-game season."

Which Astros pitcher has a pitch he'd like to steal?: "Honestly, I think I'd take T.J. Geith's change up. It's filthy. That's the only way I can really describe it. He gets a lot of swing and misses and it's just very deceptive."

Which Astros pitcher would he least like to face?: "Right now, Preston Tucker. He's a tough out. Every time I watch him, it seems like he's always on first or second base. Really, nobody can get him out. It's really impressive to watch him hit, but I try to figure out how I could get him out and I don't know if I can."

What would he do if he couldn't play baseball?: "I'd be on the PGA tour. Straight up. I love golf and I like the sport. It's relaxing. It's fun. It's very frustrating, but ... [Are you any good?] Not too bad. I'd like to think I'm better than I am."

Who on the team makes you laugh?: "What type of laugh? Joe Sclafani. I have good conversations with him. I really enjoy talking to him. Smart guy. Went to Dartmouth. I feel like I can relate to him a little bit."

Something that most people don't know about him: "Actually, I was home-schooled until I was in 8th grade. Almost no one knows that. I went to Pre-K and all that stuff, and then I was home-schooled from about 3rd grade on to about 8th grade. No one ever knows that."

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Dimock scared me when he tweeted out that he had shaved the mustache to change things up and get some good luck going during the JetHawks' losing streak at the end of the first half. I'm happy to say that the mustache, along with a goatee, is rapidly making a return. And I'm also happy to say that I have looked beyond the 'stache and found a pretty good pitcher.

Thank you for your time, Michael, and best of luck as the season continues to unfold.