Heading into the 2015 season, Joc Pederson was ranked the 15th-best prospect on Major League Baseball’s top-100 prospects list, and was someone the Dodgers organization was bullish on. Pederson lived up to that hype through the first month, showing plenty of power and playing a steady center field.
Pederson played his way to a spot on the National League All-Star team, and also participated in the 2015 Home Run Derby. He was batting .230/.364/.487, with 20 home runs, 40 RBIs and 58 walks at the midway point of the season.
By the end of the year, Pederson lost his starting job to Kiké Hernandez. He’s since regained it, but is largely part of a platoon with Trayce Thompson, even though Dodgers manager Dave Roberts continues to insist a platoon isn’t in place.
Pederson was at the center of attention on Saturday after failing to drive in Yasmani Grandal from third base in the ninth inning. The young center fielder was back in the lineup on Sunday, and hit a go-ahead two-run home run off Jeff Samardzija.
“I really didn’t think about not having him in there, whether he didn’t get any hits [Saturday] or got four hits,” Roberts said prior to the three-game series finale against the San Francisco Giants. “It’s a long season and he’s working hard.”
After the win, Roberts again spoke in positive regard of Pederson. “Every game is different. It’s not easy to get hits in the big leagues,” he said. “It’s a grind, it’s tough. For him to respond the way he did shows growth mentally as a young player.”
Roberts attributed some of Pederson’s troubles to mechanics at the plate and having “a little bit of too much want.” Roberts continued, “I think that he wants to do so well and wants it so bad where when you get in certain spots sometimes less is more and as a young player you got to continue to put guys in those positions to kind of temper those emotions and the only way you get better is to be in those spots.”
The first-year manager also clarified he doesn’t necessarily have any hard-set rules on how a hitter should approach an at-bat with two strikes. “Certain players have a certain DNA, but you’re always trying to get better,” Roberts said.
“I don’t think Joc enjoys striking out. I don’t think that’s the case at all. He’s continued to work in the cage to get better, and I do believe there’s some two-strike adjustment he’s doing at the plate.”
Pederson reiterated he spent the offseason improving his swing with a focus on being a complete hitter. “Understanding that mechanically I was doing a lot of things wrong last year at the end of the first half and into the second half that was causing me to swing at bad pitches,” Pederson said.
“I made some mechanical adjustments that have put me in a good hitting position to be able to recognize pitches better.” As for whether Pederson adjusted his approach during the at-bat he hit the home run, he said, “Hitting a home run was the last thing on my mind, I guess it worked out well.”
