For the sixth consecutive season, the Los Angeles Dodgers will have a participant in the Home Run Derby as it was announced that Joc Pederson would be part of the eight-man field at the annual event during All-Star week.
It will be Pederson’s second time competing in the event after he finished as the runner up to Todd Frazier in Cincinnati in 2015, his rookie season.
Part of the reason for Pederson’s success that year was because of his chemistry with the pitcher throwing to him, who was a Minor League coach in the Dodgers organization at the time, Johnny Washington.
Naturally, Pederson wanted Washington to throw to him again in 2019, although the only problem was that he is now a coach in the San Diego Padres organization and they would not allow it. So Pederson was left to find another pitcher, and he tried out both Dodgers third base coach Dino Ebel and Special Assistant of Baseball Operations Jose Vizcaino during team batting practice on Friday afternoon.
It appears Pederson was more comfortable with Ebel throwing to him, as he revealed on Saturday that is who he has selected as his Home Run Derby pitcher, via Ken Gurnick of MLB.com:
Joc Pederson picked coach Dino Ebel to pitch to him in the Home Run Derby.
— Ken Gurnick (@kengurnick) July 6, 2019
It is not all that surprising to see him choose Ebel considering he fared better off him on Friday:
FWIW, Joc hit more homers off Ebel.
— Dodger Blue (@DodgerBlue1958) July 5, 2019
Pederson goes into the Derby as the No. 5 seed, so he will take on Houston Astros third baseman Alex Bregman in the first round. The rest of the field consists of Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich, New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso, Pittsburgh Pirates first baseman Josh Bell, Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr., Cleveland Indians first baseman Carlos Santana and Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
Ebel has thrown in the event before, pitching to Albert Pujols in 2015 and Vladimir Guerrero in 2007. Pederson beat Pujols in the first round that year, while Guerrero went on to win the event.
The event is set for Monday night at Progressive Field in Cleveland and will be televised at 5 p.m. PT on ESPN.
