Dodgers: Joc Pederson Blasting Home Runs at an Impressive Rate

Joc Pederson may not be an everyday starter for the Dodgers, but he is blasting home runs at an impressive rate.  There has been plenty of “Joc Pop” in 2019.

Cody Bellinger is not the only Dodgers’ player having an impressive start in 2019.  Joc Pederson has had a powerful start to his 2019 season.  Joc has thirteen home runs in 118 at-bats and while he is a platoon player, he has not let that stop him from blasting home runs at an impressive rate.  Cody Bellinger has hit a home run every 9.9 at-bats and by comparison, Joc is hitting a home run every 9.1 AB’s.

Pederson recorded his 100th career home run in Tuesday’s victory over rookie phenom Chris Paddack and his halfway to his career high of 26 home runs which came in his breakout rookie season.  To put Joc’s 9.1 AB’s per home run in perspective, back in 2001 when Barry Bonds broke the single season HR record, he hit a home run every 6.5 at-bats.

For his career, Joc is averaging a home run every 17.0 at-bats which is still an impressive number.  That ranks him ahead of some well-known sluggers such as Greg Vaughn (17.1), Gary Sheffield (18.1), and Miguel Cabrera (18.4).  In the present day, that 17.0 career AB/HR rate ranks him ahead of JD Martinez (17.5), Bryce Harper (18.0), and Nolan Arenado (17.8).

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Joc’s impressive start has his 2019 home run rate at nearly half of what it has been for his career.  While he is known to be streaky, it will be fun to watch as Bellinger and Pederson go head to head to see who can lead the team in home runs.  While Joc may not play every game as Cody does, Joc also doesn’t face left-handed pitching most of the time which he is known to struggle mightily against.

The 2019 season has been a complete turnaround from the 2018 season where Joc had just one home run through May.  He even hit for a higher average than normal at the start of last season although the home run power was not there.  This season, the fast start has Joc looking like a lock for his first thirty home run season.  While he will hit his slumps, when he’s hot, there is no other Dodger who can send balls out of the park at will as Joc can.

Joc may be a platoon player but that hasn’t been a bad thing for the Dodgers.  They have had the other piece of the puzzle to platoon Joc and use his ability to mash right-handed pitching at their disposal.  As long as he keeps mashing right-handed pitching, he remains an offensive bargain for the Dodgers as well as a decent fielder in left field.