RA Dickey's performance this season has been absolutely stunning. Born without the ulnar collateral ligament (the elbow ligament that gets replaced in Tommy John Surgery), Dickey has had a very strange climb through the major leagues. He was converted to a knuckleball pitcher and had very little success up until this year.

Allow me to say it without the juvenile snickers: I absolutely love Dickey. His one hitter against the Phillies was absolutely stellar.

Who would ever predicted that a 35 year old journeyman knuckleballer would ever have this sort of success?

Dickey's knuckler dances across the plate like the New York Ballet. He's gone from Charlie Haeger to Phil Niekro in one season. He's become the new Mets folk hero, the perfect-to-root-for underdog. His one-hitter which should have been a no-hitter (thanks to the wonderfully inept Jeff Francoeur) was a masterful performance, the like hasn't been seen in Mets land for a while. It was a beautiful bright spot for an otherwise dreary year.

Dickey has shattered my expectations. He's cut his walks given up (2.43 BB/9 compared to a career 3.36 BB/9) and has kept the ball in the ball park (0.57 HR/9 compared to 1.23 HR/9 career). Any knuckler that can keep the ball in the park is extremely dangerous. His FIP is excellent, at 3.47. He's just doing an excellent job.

What has caused Dickey's sudden resurgence? Looking at his PitchFX charts, it appears that Dickey is throwing his knuckleball four miles per hour faster than he used to. The extra speed has somehow decreased the movement on his knuckleball making him even more dangerous. He's also throwing it much more often compared to the previous two seasons and has ditched every other pitch he used to throw (he used to throw a changeup, a cutter, and a slider according to PitchFX).

Somehow, changing to a strictly fastball/knuckleball pitcher has made Dickey substantially better. It's really great to see such a turnaround, especially when it's happening on your team. I'm not entirely sure if Dickey will be able to keep up this level of success but I sure hope he does. He's an easy guy to root for.