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Dodgers News: Don Mattingly Believes Joc Pederson Can Improve

Jon SooHoo-Los Angeles Dodgers
Jon SooHoo-Los Angeles Dodgers

Following the 2014 season, the Los Angeles Dodgers had the No. 8 prospect in all of baseball, according to Baseball America. Joc Pederson had just finished his fifth year in the minors and most expected him to be called up soon.

He had just finished a season in Triple-A in which he hit .303 wit 33 home runs and 30 steals. While his power has never been a problem, he has always had an issue with striking out. In Triple-A he struck out 149 times, and through 403 plate appearances in the majors this season, he has already struck out 117 times.



Manager Don Mattingly believes Pederson can make improvements to his swing without compromising his power, via Tyler Kepner of the New York Times:

I think his swing can get better without losing any power at all,” Manager Don Mattingly said. “I think he can put the ball in play another 50, 60 times a year, where he should cut his strikeouts down. It’s just a matter of continuing to grow with his swing and take little bites out of it, make it a little bit shorter, where it needs to be, and understanding how to do that.”

Pederson is currently hitting .228 but believes he can do much better. In fact, his teammates do too:

He’s a .300 hitter,” said Justin Turner, the Dodgers’ third baseman. “It’s a game of adjustments, and he’s working every day, trying to get back to it. He’s not satisfied being a .230 hitter with a bunch of homers. He wants to get hits and hit for power.”

The center fielder’s average started declining around the time when he hit a home run in five consecutive games. At that point he was hitting .267. Although his offense has declined, he still holds a 131 wRC+.

If Pederson can make some adjustments, the Dodgers will have a bonafide center fielder for years to come.

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4 Comments

  1. Hey Joc, watch video of George Bret’s swing, and get a slightly smaller bat. Don’t try to pull as much and hit the ball hard where it is pitched in the strikezone, you will hit homers to all parts of the field, up your doubles, decrease your strikeouts and overall be much more productive.

  2. What I see is the grind of his first full MLB season, with all it’s pressure and fanfare and spotlight, creating some mental exhaustion. Where there’s an awareness and ability to adjust (note the handful of base hits where he’s kept his shoulder and head in on the ball and shot it the other way or shot thru the 3 – 4 hole), there’s also the mental mistakes (on the base paths going for 2nd when it’s not called for, not getting in front of the grounder in the Greinke game letting Neuenheius go to third, etc) show that he’s feeling the grind – he knows what to do to get those hits and what to do to stop those grounders, but mental exhaustion lead one to make those mistakes, and when in the box forget to make those adjustments.

    I wish he’d never gone to the All Star game and Home Run derby as he would have benefitted greatly from a 4 day vacation, perhaps using that time for a few batting cage sessions to work on the adjustments he’s shown glimmers of but hasn’t yet put into his full arsenal.

  3. Grumpy I agree with you. I think he will be able to adjust his mental approach and his hitting in years to come. He needs to, as Mattingly says, take out the overswing. He also needs to watch Gonzo as he is as great a situational and mental hitter in baseball. I take Mattingly’s opinion highly. People sometimes forget what a great overall player and hitter he was. I think sitting him for a few days and letting him veg and then do a couple days in the cage with McGuire would help him tremendously. The great thing is he wants to imporve and is not satisfied.

  4. I totally agree with you guys. He needs to sit for several games. We need him to get rested, stress free, and straightened out for the remainder of the season.

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