Dodgers News: Joc Pederson Announced For 2019 Home Run Derby
We asked the question, the Los Angeles Dodgers answered. Indeed, the Dodgers will have a participant in the Home Run Derby for the sixth straight season.
Moreover – during Wednesday night’s ballgame – Ken Gurnick of MLB.com tweeted that Joc Pederson will participate in Monday night’s home run hitting contest in Cleveland.
Joc Pederson has been added to the Home Run Derby lineup. Pederson finished second in the 2015 Home Run Derby
— Ken Gurnick (@kengurnick) July 4, 2019
Remember, Pederson made it to the final round of the 2015 Home Run Derby. However, he eventually lost by a score of 15-14 to champion Todd Frazier in Cincinnati.
Perhaps the contest – an avenging that close loss in the finals – has been on Pederson’s mind for quite some time. Per Bill Plunkett of the OC Register, Pederson had this to say about his past experience in the derby.
“It was so much fun. It was an incredible experience.”
Joc will be the number 5 seed, going up against Houston’s Alex Bregman.
The winner of the competition wins $1M.
While everyone expected Cody Bellinger to enter the 2019 contest, he recently stepped aside to say he wouldn’t be entering. Now it’s Pederson – owner of 107 career long balls and 20 this season – who will try to give the Dodgers a champion in this event.
So Dodgers fans, how do you feel about this news? And most importantly, how do you like Pederson’s chances against the rest of the field on Monday night?
Joc should be at Dodgers Stadium throughout the ASG break taking ground balls at 1B and learning the intricacies of playing the position if the Dodgers are serious about keeping him there. Home Run Derby means absolutely nothing WRT the Dodgers season while Joc at 1B does. He looks like a deer in headlights on ground balls and even more so when a pitcher throws over on a pick-off move. His footwork on throws from infielders is atrocious. And he needs work on plays when pitchers are covering 1B as well as throws to second when trying to start a DP. In short, if this experiment, simply to keep his bat in the lineup against RH pitching because he will not play OF when AJP returns, is serious, then be serious about it.