April All-Star Team: Joc Pederson
- Updated: May 7, 2015
Image via Twitter
It seems like it gets earlier every year, but Major League Baseball has already released their All-Star Game ballots, and you can start voting now for your favorite player. Here’s more information on how to do that. In the meantime, let’s make the case for just one deserving member of the Los Angeles Dodgers… Joc Pederson.
Hey, look, believe me, Adrian Gonzalez is the obvious choice, and he will make the All Star team without question.
So, I figured, let’s have a little fun arguing the case for another player since Gonzo is pretty much a foregone conclusion, especially after he hit something like 27 home runs in the first week of the season.
Anyways, back to Joc Pederson. I will admit it, and you can go back and look at the post – I deserve to eat crow about Pederson. I thought he was going to fail, and I wrote as much about it a few weeks back when I argued he’d be heading back to AAA at some point this year. Boy, was I wrong.
Yes, he is striking out a lot, but he’s also walking a ton, which means he’s seeing way more pitches than most rookies care to wait through at the plate.
That means good things for his development long-term, but it’s also doing wonders for him in the short-term, with an on-base percentage that’s approached .500, and, at the time I’m writing this, 5 home runs and four doubles to go along with 13 runs in just 21 games through the month of April.
That’s great production for a team that, as it turns out, really needed him to step up in the outfield.
The Dodgers have a lot of problems: Puig’s slump and then injury, Jimmy Rollins not hitting at all, the catching tandem giving the Dodgers less than nothing at the plate, injuries to the starting staff, and a suspect bullpen at points without Kenley Jansen.
One problem they don’t have is in center field. Pederson has proven himself to be reliable and has adjusted to big league pitching much quicker and far more effectively than I ever thought he would. Just imagine how good this kid will be in the future, seeing how fast he got up to speed in his rookie season…
I messed up on Pederson (though I was right about him striking out a ton, so, I mean, at least give me that). Besides Gonzo, if the game took place today, your 2015 National League All Star team should have Joc Pederson in the lineup.
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