On June 29, 2015, Joc Pederson became the third rookie in MLB history to hit 20 home runs before July during the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 10-6 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field.
With his historic homer, Pederson joined Wally Berger of the Boston Braves and Albert Pujols of the St. Louis Cardinals as the only members in the exclusive club.
Pederson’s home run came in the fourth inning against Diamondbacks starter Allen Webster and traveled 461 feet. It was a mammoth shot but not even the longest home run of Pederson’s career.
Earlier that season, Pederson hit a 477-foot homer against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. It remains the longest home run ever hit by a member of the Dodgers during the Statcast Era, barely beating out Shohei Ohtani’s 476-foot blast on June, 18 2024.
But he didn’t stop there.
As it just so happened, the Dodgers played a double-header against the Rockies that day and Pederson hit a 472-foot home run in the second game. Pederson’s second blast still stands as the Dodgers’ fifth-longest during the Statcast Era.
Of the 10 longest home runs by Dodgers in the Statcast Era, Pederson is one of three players to appear twice on the list, with Ohtani and Max Muncy joining him. Pederson narrowly missed a third appearance, with his landmark home run against the Diamondbacks in 2015 falling just three feet short of the No. 10 spot.
An 11th-round selection by the Dodgers in the 2010 MLB Draft, Pederson was committed to play at the University of Southern California but ultimately decided to forgo college. He received a $600,000 signing bonus to join the Dodgers, the second-highest awarded to any draft pick they signed that year and significantly more than players picked after the fifth round typically receive.
Pederson made his MLB debut in 2014 as a September call-up and appeared in 18 games that season. He cracked the Opening Day roster the following year and appeared in 151 games for the Dodgers, which still remains his career-high with any team.
Pederson was ranked as the No. 8 overall prospect by Baseball America and No. 13 by MLB Pipeline going into the 2015 season.
Pederson made his first All-Star Game appearance during his rookie season. He was unable to sustain a strong pace in the second half of the season and regressed quite significantly, especially in the home run department.
He finished the season batting .210/.346/.417 with 19 doubles and 54 RBI. But most importantly, he only hit six home runs the rest of the year after reaching 20 through the Dodgers’ first 78 games.
Joc Pederson’s key role in 2019 Dodgers lineup
During the 2019 season, Pederson helped the Dodgers become just the fifth team in MLB history to have three players hit at least 20 home runs before July 1, joining forces with Muncy and Cody Bellinger.
The Dodgers were the first team to do so since the 2003 Atlanta Braves, who were led by Andruw Jones, Javy Lopez and Gary Sheffield.
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