Texas notes: Dickerson still rolling

Corey Dickerson was supposed to get a reality check at his latest stop on the Minor League ladder.

Reality? Check.

Dickerson, a Colorado Rockies outfield prospect, is showing the same ease of adjustment with the Tulsa Drillers he's shown elsewhere in his career.

The hits and home runs just keep coming.

"It's been a pretty good transition," said Dickerson, who throws right, bats left and entered the week hitting .297 for Tulsa with seven home runs and 11 doubles in 37 games. "I just enjoy playing the game. Let the game come to me."

Saturday night at Arkansas' Dickey-Stephens Park, the Drillers were victimized by a complete-game gem from Travelers starter Orangel Arenas in a 3-1 defeat. Though Dickerson was one of Arenas' two strikeout victims, he also spoiled the shutout with a fourth-inning home run, one of only two hits Arenas allowed.

"In a game like this you want to take each at-bat and try to do the best you can," Dickerson said, striving to make his mellow Mississippi accent heard over a post-game concert. "Don't worry about what the pitcher has done before but worry about what he's going to throw you this at-bat."

Dickerson was expected to find the going tougher this season after he lit up the South Atlantic League with Asheville last season. He hit a league-best 32 homers while batting .282 and tied a Sally League single-game record with three homers and 10 RBIs.

"I really enjoyed that place," Dickerson said of McCormick Field. "It's a hitter's park, but you've got to hit good at your home field to be a good hitter. I just want to carry it over everywhere I go and continue to be consistent."

But he busted out to start the year at Modesto in the California League, hitting .338 in 60 games with nine home runs, 43 RBIs and 24 doubles to earn a promotion to Tulsa.

Born in McComb, Miss., and a graduate of Brookhaven Academy, Dickerson was twice drafted by the Rockies out of Meridian Community College. The situation looked more attractive to Dickerson the second go-around, when he was taken in the eighth round and received a $125,000 bonus. Based on sound advice by his signing scout Damon Ianelli, the one-time Mississippi State recruit opted for pro ball.

"The scout was real honest with me and told me they would try to get me something," Dickerson said of his first Draft experience, when he went in the 29th round. "They didn't, so I just went back to school, good things happened, they drafted me again, and I just felt like it was the right situation. They were honest with me and a good organization drafted me."

Dickerson said he wants to be better rounded at the plate and not just a home run hitter. While he has drawn more notice with his bat than his glove, he's also worked in the offseason to shore up his defense.

That seems to be checking out just fine, too.

"Every day in early work I do reads," said Dickerson, who has so far played an error-less left field for Tulsa. "I feel 10 times better since I've been up here. ... I'm just trying to progress as good as they want me to be up here."

Fast track: Mike Trout went from the Arkansas Travelers to the Los Angeles Angels twice last season, but no Arkansas player has been promoted directly off the field -- as shortstop Jean Segura was Saturday -- since 2005. Segura took his position to start the seventh inning but was pulled because the Angels had tabbed him to fill in for injured Erick Aybar, making Segura the first Traveler promoted so abruptly since Ervin Santana went directly from the mound to join the Angels in 2005.

Complete player: Corpus Christi's Jose Cisnero likes pitching against Frisco. He has two career complete games, and both have come against the RoughRiders this season. The 23-year-old right-hander tossed a two-hit shutout June 16, then allowed a run on five hits in a 3-1 Hooks victory Sunday.