Joc Pederson on pace to become best hitter in L.A. Dodgers History

December 17th, 2014 at 6:00 am by Ron Cervenka

While researching Monday’s article on Eric Karros, I uncovered a rather interesting fact about L.A.’s all-time home run king. After receiving his September 1, 1991 call-up to the big leagues, Karros was… well… awful.

At the time of his call-up, the then 23-year-old Hackensack, New Jersey native and UCLA alum was coming off an absolutely phenomenal season at Triple-A Albuquerque where he had an incredible slash-line of .352 / .419 / .554 for an alien-like .973 OPS. Karros was named the Dodgers 1991 Minor League Player of the Year and was, by every indication, destined to become a superstar. However, in the 14 games in which he appeared in September 1991, Karros went 1 for 14 (.071) with zero home runs in his 15 plate appearances with one walk. And although the Dodgers finished the season in second place one game behind the (then) NL West champion Atlanta Braves, it was in no part whatsoever due to Eric Karros.

As every Dodger fan knows, Karros went on the win the 1992 NL Rookie of the Year title – the first of five consecutive Dodger players to do so. Ironically, the Dodgers would finish the 1992 season with the worst record in Los Angeles Dodgers history at 63-99.

After his horrible September call-up in 1991, Eric Karros went on to become the greatest home run hitter in L.A. Dodgers history. (Photo credit - Luis Sinco)

After his horrible September call-up in 1991, Eric Karros went on to become the greatest home run hitter in L.A. Dodgers history.
(Photo credit – Luis Sinco)

Fast forward to September 2014.

On September 1, 2014, Dodgers top outfield prospect Joc Pederson received a call-up to the big leagues and he was… well… awful.

At the time of his call-up, the 22-year-old Palo Alto, California native was coming off an absolutely phenomenal season at Triple-A Albuquerque where he had an incredible slash-line of .303 / .435 / .582 for an even more alien-like 1.017 OPS. Pederson was named the Dodgers 2014 Minor League Player of the Year and is, by every indication, destined to become a superstar. However, in the 18 games in which he appeared in September 2014, Pederson went 4 for 28 (.143) with zero home runs in his 38 plate appearances with an impressive nine walks. And although the Dodgers won the NL West title for the second consecutive season, it was in no part whatsoever due to Joc Pederson.

Just as Eric Karros was in 1991, Joc Pederson was named the Dodgers Minor League Player of the Year in 2014. (Photo credit - Jon SooHoo)

Just as Eric Karros was in 1991, Joc Pederson was named the Dodgers Minor League Player of the Year in 2014. (Photo credit – Jon SooHoo)

The point here is that it is absolutely ridiculous and completely unfair to evaluate or predict a player’s future based on their extremely brief September call-up, and for Dodger fans to even think that Joc Pederson belongs on the trading block based on his first 38 MLB plate appearances is nothing short of insane.

With the likelihood that Pederson will be the Dodgers opening day center fielder (or right fielder) in 2015, and with him playing every day and getting at least four at-bats every game, don’t be surprised if @yungjoc650 is among the candidates for 2015 NL Rookie of the Year.

It could be déjà vu all over again.

 

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25 Responses to “Joc Pederson on pace to become best hitter in L.A. Dodgers History”

  1. OldBrooklynFan says:
    December 17, 2014 at 9:01 am

    Every Dodger Fan, off course, is hoping Joc will have an outstanding career and time will tell how this plays out.

    Reply

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