DaytonDailyNews.com

CINCINNATI — It's an infectious disease, usually prevalent in smaller ball parks. Manager Dusty Baker calls it, "Home run-itis," and he said he suffered the malady as a young player.

And he hopes Chris Dickerson isn't infected after hitting six home runs in his first 19 major-league games, with no minor-league track record of being a power hitter.

Baker hopes the 425-foot home run Dickerson hit the opposite way Wednesday against the Pirates shows him he doesn't have to muscle up.

"I remember him having some pop in spring training," said Baker. "It is a matter of learning to channel and control that pop versus seeing him surprisingly pop one.

"His focus and concentration must be better to not foul off or miss pitches too much," Baker added. "I just don't want him to get pop-conscious. The one he hit so hard to the opposite field shows he doesn't have to be pop-conscious. That means you have the strength to do it and you don't have to pull it."

Baker said he was told that Adam Dunn was more of a spray hitter and didn't become dead-pull until he arrived in the small dimensions of Great American Ball Park.

"Guys get home run-itis, which is a bad disease," added Baker. "I had it. Lot of people get it, especially when you're young and in a small ball park. I was in Atlanta (The Launching Pad) when I was a kid. It is almost better if you can get to a small ball park when you are an older player instead of as a younger player."

Baker paused a moment, then said, "I think Brandon Phillips might have a little dose of home run-itis right now. He is swinging at a lot of bad pitches."

A cameo appearance

Outfielder Wilkin Castillo made his first major-league start Thursday — and possibly one of his last this year.

With 19 of the last 22 games scheduled against teams still in contention, manager Dusty Baker plans to put his best feet forward in those games.

"With the teams we're playing, he probably won't get a start against the Cubs, Milwaukee, Arizona and St. Louis," said Baker. "Probably won't be until we get to Houston and it looks as if they're still trying to stay in it."

On center stage

With less than a month left in the season, Baker says, "I wish we had another month after this one. I'm not ready to end the season. You never want to end the season when you're losing. You wish you had more time."

Baker, though, knows the remaining time is a proving ground for many players dangling on the fringe of the roster.

"This month we're going to find out a lot about some people because we're playing playoff contending teams," said Baker. "They are going to pitch you tough and they are not going to let you beat them and are not going to let you spoil their parade.

"Gonna be interesting," said Baker. "This is as close to a good test as we'll see about our players."

Quote of the day

"Here's our travel squad to Sarasota today." — Pirates manager John Russell, kiddingly implying that his Thursday lineup card was one you might see at a Pirates-Reds spring exhibition at Ed Smith Stadium.