The Pirates have a nemesis, and his name is Derek Dietrich.
During the Reds’ 11-6 victory on Tuesday at Great American Ball Park, Dietrich had a career night with three home runs and six RBIs. It gave him seven homers in 2019 against Pittsburgh. Like the way Milwaukee’s Eric Thames burned Cincinnati for 14 homers over the 2017-18 seasons, does Dietrich have a good feel for Bucs pitching?
“Other than they probably don’t really like me, no,” Dietrich said. “I don’t treat it any differently, honestly. It just so happens that I’m kind of hot right now. I didn’t go up there with any extra expectations or anything like that.”
Signed to a Minor League deal on Feb. 19, after Spring Training opened, as a free agent languishing on the market, Dietrich already has a career-high 17 home runs in 52 games and 118 at-bats. In 2018 for the Marlins, he hit 16 homers over 149 games and 499 at-bats. Each of his past six hits has been a home run.
Statcast shows that Dietrich has far exceeded his previous barrel percentages with 17.2 this season; his previous high was 9.0 percent in 2015. He also has increased his launch angle from 15.5 degrees last season to 20.2. But he attributes his success to the teammates and people around him.
“[It's about] how comfortable I feel here," Dietrich said, "and how the Reds just let me be myself and do what I’ve always known I’m capable of doing from day one when I stepped into the big leagues. They believe in me and have given me an opportunity. Really, I think that’s all I really needed along the way.”
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