Joc Pederson was born on April 21, 1992, in Palo Alto, Calif. He is the son of former big leaguer Stu Pederson, who appeared in eight games for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1985.
Pederson’s older brother, Tyger, was additionally drafted by the organization in 2013, playing in 18 games for the club’s Rookie-level affiliate.
Pederson starred on the Palo Alto High School baseball team, hitting .466 with 20 stolen bases during his senior season. After graduating, he spent some time in the Hawaii Collegiate Baseball League, where he further boosted his stock upon entering the 2010 MLB Draft.
Pederson was selected in the 11th round by the Dodgers, eventually signing with the organization and forgoing his previous commitment to play baseball for the University of Southern California.
Minor League career
Pederson’s professional career began with the Dodgers’ Rookie-level affiliate in 2010. He went hitless in 12 plate appearances across three games.
In 2011, Pederson split time with Rookie-level Ogden and Low-A Great Lakes. Between the two levels, he batted a stellar .323/.407/.503 with 20 doubles, 11 home runs, 65 RBI and 26 stolen bases in 370 plate appearances (84 games).
Pederson built off his breakout year with an equally impressive showing during the 2012 season. Receiving a promotion to High-A Rancho Cucamonga, he posted a .913 on-base plus slugging with 48 extra-base hits and 26 stolen bases in 110 games.
He concluded the season with a brief stint in the Arizona Fall League, appearing in an additional 15 contests. Pederson continued to make a name for himself with another excellent season for Double-A Chattanooga in 2013.
He hit .278/.381/.497 with 24 doubles, 22 home runs, 58 RBI and 31 stolen bases in 123 games. At the conclusion of the Minor League season, Pederson made 34 additional appearances in the Venezuelan Winter League.
He also played in three games for the Israel national baseball team in the 2013 World Baseball Classic qualifiers.
In 2014, Pederson was promoted to Triple-A Albuquerque. He put up his best numbers in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, posting a 1.017 OPS with 33 home runs and 30 RBI over 121 games.
Pederson became the first player in 80 years to record at least 30 home runs and 30 seasons in the PCL (Frank Demaree, 1934). As the calendar turned to September, he was among the Minor League players to receive a call-up to the Dodgers.
Dodgers career
Pederson made his MLB debut on Sept. 1, 2014, against the Washington Nationals, striking out in his only at-bat. He was penciled into the lineup the following day, collecting his first hit in three at-bats while also drawing a walk.
Pederson notched four hits in 28 at-bats during the month of September, concluding his first season in the big leagues. He was not included on the Dodgers’ National League Division Series roster against the St. Louis Cardinals.
Pederson was the Dodgers’ primary center fielder in 2015, appearing in 151 games and hitting an overall .210/.346/.417 with 19 doubles, 26 home runs and 54 RBI. He participated in the Home Run Derby that year while earning All-Star honors and finishing sixth in NL Rookie of the Year voting.
Pederson improved in many areas the following season, which included raising his batting average by 36 points. He posted an .847 OPS with 26 doubles, 25 home runs and 68 RBI in 137 games.
The 2017 season saw Pederson’s previous struggles resurface as he batted only .212 with a career-low 11 home runs in 102 games. He flipped a switch come postseason time and particularly thrived in the World Series, hitting .333 with three home runs against the Houston Astros.
Pederson built off his late-season success with a bounce back of sorts in 2018. He hit .248 with 27 doubles, 25 home runs and 56 RBI in 148 games.
The 2019 season marked Pederson’s most successful at the big league level as he batted .249 with a career-high 36 home runs and 74 RBI in 149 games. He went on to post a .953 OPS with two doubles and a home run in five games against the Washington Nationals in the NLDS.
In February 2020, the Dodgers reportedly had a trade in place that would have sent Pederson and Ross Stripling to the L.A. Angels for utility infielder Luis Rengifo and a prospect.
The deal was ultimately nixed by Angels owner Arte Moreno after he grew impatient with how long it took to finalize, as the Dodgers attempted to first rework their blockbuster trade with the Boston Red Sox for Mookie Betts and David Price.
