A wake-up call for Los Angeles Dodgers’ Joc Pederson
By Tim Haberin
It wasn’t long ago that Joc Pederson was the toast of the town in Los Angeles. The Dodgers outfielder looked like the early favorite for the National League Rookie of the Year prize and was regularly wowing fans around baseball with his feats of strength at the plate. Add a starting spot in the NL All-Star Game lineup and an impressive runner-up performance in the Home Run Derby, and you have the ingredients of a dream first half for a young player.
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The season’s second act, however, has provided the 23-year-old wunderkind with a harsh dose of reality. Since the All-Star break, Pederson is slashing .163/.333/.293 with 35 strikeouts in 117 plate appearances. That’s just under a 30% clip.
The young slugger has never really been a paragon of plate discipline at any point this season, swinging at 26.7% of pitches outside the strike zone. But that is much easier to overlook when he is sending baseballs flying out of the park on a routine basis. Pederson’s 23 homers still lead all MLB rookies, but only three of them have come after July 1. Since that date he has also watched his OPS plummet from .911 to .798.
Los Angeles Dodgers manager Don Mattingly further underscored Pederson’s fall by announcing yesterday that Enrique Hernandez would take his place as starting center fielder for the time being. Just over a month ago Pederson was starting for his league’s All-Star team, and now he finds himself needing to earn his way back into the lineup for his own club. A major reversal, to say the least.
Pederson’s slump has also been a microcosm of the Dodgers’ own rapidly souring fortunes. Los Angeles has dropped five games in a row and ten of its last fifteen. Their lead in the NL West has slimmed to just a game and a half over the San Francisco Giants.
The Dodgers offense has mustered 129 runs since the All-Star break; only three teams (Rays, A’s and Braves) have managed worse. The shaky bullpen sports a 4.20 ERA (23rd in MLB) and the rotation is showing some worrisome holes outside of the arms of Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke.
Naturally, a lot of questions are being asked of the team’s mettle, most notably from the club’s own on-field leadership. Following Sunday’s extra-inning loss to the Astros, Clayton Kershaw remarked, “I hope we’re panicking a little bit.”
Mattingly’s decision to sit down one of franchise’s rising stars and more recognizable names is a clear attempt to instill a spark in his squad. Will it work? Or is it too little, too late? Only time will tell, but the 24-year-old Hernandez has looked promising in limited playing time, slashing .295/.343/.494 with six home runs and 18 RBI in 182 plate appearances.
The real question, though, is how Pederson will respond to this adversity, the first major setback of his big-league career. It’s a challenge that all young hitters face at one time or another. Veteran pitchers gradually learn their habits and devise effective ways to attack them. Pederson’s aggressive, free-swinging approach helped him rack up a pile of tape-measure home runs, but it has also turned him into an easier target for opposing hurlers.
The players who succeed at the major league level, of course, are the ones who learn to adapt right back in response. Pederson will have to become a more patient, well-rounded hitter or start launching those moonshots again. Preferably both, from L.A.’s perspective.
In any case, Pederson forced the team’s hand by remaining thoroughly unproductive for such a long stretch. He will likely get another chance soon, but how soon will depend on his and Hernandez’s performances going forward.
Alarm bells are sounding in Dodger-land right now, and if the team is to get back on track and win its division, its young center field phenom will need to rediscover his form and become part of the solution.