How Alex Dickerson became Giants' best hitter at Oracle Park this season

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The Giants would be nowhere this season without Alex Dickerson. That's a fact, as is saying most Giants fans had never heard of Dickerson before this season. 

Dickerson, 29, was acquired by the Giants in a trade with the Padres on June 10. Less than two weeks later, he made his team debut when he hit a grand slam and drove in six runs against the Diamondbacks on June 21.

Suddenly, the Giants are the hottest team in baseball and sit just three games back of the second NL wild card spot. Since Dickerson debuted with the orange and black, the Giants have gone 15-7. Before his arrival, they were 31-42. 

"The vibe is kind of a calm confidence," Dickerson said Wednesday morning on KNBR regarding the Giants' clubhouse right now.

While the Giants can't be stopped, neither can Dickerson. Since joining the Giants, he's been one of the best hitters in baseball. 

What has been most impressive by Dickerson's dominance at the plate are his stats at Oracle Park. Through 10 games in San Francisco, the left-handed hitting outfielder has a .379 batting average with two home runs and a 1.195 OPS.

For Dickerson, it all starts with the right mindset. 

"You always have to step in the box with that confidence that you're gonna get the job done. You gotta take the park out of it," Dickerson said. "Honestly, I never hit too well there until that last home stand and it took my hitting coach Alonzo Powell telling me, 'Hey, that bay isn't out of reach for you. You gotta challenge it.'

"I realized that I was trying to do something different than what I wanted to do as far as driving the baseball." 

Dickerson is a powerful hitter at 6-foot-3 and 235 pounds. He quite literally began telling himself he could hit the ball to McCovey Cove, and the results followed. 

"You gotta play to your strengths and for me, being able to drive a ball to that pull-side gap, that really opens up a lot of stuff for me," Dickerson said. 

All four of Dickerson's home runs this year have been hit to right-center field or right field. Through 31 games between the Giants and Padres, 27 percent of his batted balls have been hit to right-center field and 26 percent have gone to right field, according to Baseball Savant

[RELATED: How Zaidi's reacting to Giants' hot streak ahead of deadline]

The Giants are hitting nearly 20 points higher on the road this season and only have 34 home runs at Oracle Park compared to 67 on the road this season. Though the offense as a whole has struggled in San Francisco, Dickerson seems to have the horrors of Oracle Park figured out. 

It's simple: Aim for the water. 

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