Dickey getting bird's-eye view of knuckleball

DUNEDIN, Fla. -- R.A. Dickey is getting a new look at his signature knuckleball: the view from atop his catcher's helmet.

Dickey asked Erik Kratz to attach a GoPro camera to the top of his helmet while catching the knuckleballer's bullpen session on Wednesday morning, and Dickey planned to review the film for his own benefit.

"The more information for me, the better. It's good to get kind of a real unique perspective," Dickey said. "When you can put a camera on top of a catcher's mask, I can really see my body as it comes down the slopes, see mechanically what it does. That camera in particular is high-definition so I can see rotation and things like that. It gives me great feedback, which is why I wanted to use it."

Named the Opening Day starter on Tuesday by manager John Gibbons, Dickey called the appointment "special" and "an honour to represent not only a team, but a country, on the first night of the year.

"I never take something like that lightly," Dickey said. "My story is such that those kind of experiences are highly valued."

The movement on Dickey's knuckleball early on this spring has impressed Gibbons.

"I don't want to catch it, I know that," Gibbons said.