As the Los Angeles Dodgers gear up for another postseason run, they have twice been without one of their key players in Joc Pederson.
Pederson was first placed on the paternity list earlier this month as his wife Kelsey is due to have their second child sometime soon. After returning to the team for a few days, Pederson was then forced to leave once again, being placed on family emergency leave.
While it is unclear what Pederson and his family are going through, it was good to see that he was able to return to the team after being reinstated ahead of Tuesday night’s series opener against the Oakland Athletics. That gives six regular-season games to get back up to speed before the start of the postseason.
Pederson may be back with the team and ready to play, but Dodgers manager Dave Roberts is not sure if it is for good. “I can’t say with 100% certainty,” Roberts said.
“Family first, and Joc knows that, his family understands that. I just know that Joc worked real hard to be here with us, to finish out this homestand. I would expect him to be with us through the Wild Card Series, but then after that I just don’t know.”
As Roberts mentioned, family should obviously come first so it comes as no surprise that the organization will respect Pederson if he has to leave again to be with his family.
Pederson looking to get going offensively
When Pederson has been able to take the field for the Dodgers this season, he has not been at his best as in 39 games he is batting .177/.268/.372 with four doubles, six home runs and 12 RBI. Included in that is a 3-for-28 stretch in nine games during the month of September.
Pederson has had success for the Dodgers in the postseason before so they are banking on that being the case again despite the poor regular season. If Pederson continues to struggle or is forced to miss time to be with his wife and family, the team has plenty of quality options to replace him in the lineup.
This is Pederson’s final year before becoming a free agent, meaning it could very well be his last postseason run with the Dodgers.
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