BRADENTON, Fla. – Bench coach Tom Prince launched a ball out of the popup machine during the Pirates’ first full-squad workout on Monday, not the easiest ball to track on a windy morning at Pirate City -- but not a problem in left field. Corey Dickerson glided along the grass and caught it, and Chris Archer dashed from foul territory toward the mound and shouted with a smile on his face.

“We’ve got gold out there!”

It was a year ago on Friday that Dickerson joined the Pirates. He came with questions, especially about his defense in left field, and he arrived with something to prove. The first day he met Pirates outfield coach Kimera Bartee, Dickerson made it clear: He wanted to win a Gold Glove Award. On Nov. 4, he did.

Now, Dickerson wants to keep getting better. Around the time he received his first Gold Glove, Dickerson resumed working on his fundamentals, footwork and throwing in the field.

“I won it, but I could have been way better, maybe reached a few balls that I couldn’t have,” Dickerson said. “I feel like there’s always improvement. I feel like I’m improving every year. I want to maximize this window I have of prime years. I’m trying to be the absolute best I can.”

That motivation drove Dickerson through a season in which he batted .300 with an .804 OPS and led all Pirates position players with 3.8 Wins Above Replacement. But he took the most pride in his Gold Glove defense in left field.

Some people might say that Dickerson can’t do any better than that, the best defensive season of his career. Saying so to Dickerson would be a mistake.

“Last year was when he took that huge leap, and it was fun to watch,” said Archer, who played with Dickerson from 2016-17 in Tampa Bay. “He had people tell them that he could not do that. Corey’s the type of person where, if you tell him he can’t do something, he’s going to prove you wrong.”

Already this spring, Dickerson has told Bartee and manager Clint Hurdle that he wants to clean up his throwing mechanics and work on getting to balls quicker. As Bartee put it: “He doesn’t want to stop.”

“He wants to be fundamentally perfect,” Bartee added. “To have a guy on the team that has that drive and the leadership skills and the influence he has, it makes camp a little bit more special. I know it helps me out tremendously. He’s so influential that I totally expect, and almost demand, the others to take notice and get on board with him and go at the level he’s going at as far as effort level and attention to detail.”

Dickerson set another goal heading into last season: He wanted to cut his strikeouts in half. Dickerson said he heard “through the grapevine” that he swung and missed on too many four-seam fastballs in 2017, so once again, he made an adjustment and addressed a knock against him.

Last season, Dickerson choked up more often. He employed a two-strike approach that allowed him to hit .300 and, indeed, decrease his strikeout total from 152 to 80. At the same time, however, Dickerson’s home run output dropped from 51 over the previous two years to 13 last season.

“I kind of went away from being who I was. I started choking up from the very beginning and just being satisfied with hits,” Dickerson said. “Even though I was getting a lot of hits, I wasn’t being true to myself. … I feel like I need to be me, get my ‘A’ swings off more often, then always have the two-strike approach in my bag if it’s a really hard pitcher or I’m not seeing the ball well.

“I feel like I have more in the tank than 13 home runs, doing more damage with intent. I did that in the past. I went a different route just to prove I could do something and prove I could hit that pitch. I’m just going to make sure I’ve got a better approach and let my ability take over.”

So, a year after arriving in Pirates camp with something to prove, Dickerson has even more that he wants to accomplish. He’s striving to get better on defense and let his natural power play out at the plate.

Anything else?

“Can’t give all my secrets away,” he said, smiling.