Two-time All-Star and World Series champion outfielder Joc Pederson hit the free agent market after playing the past two seasons with the San Francisco Giants. He’s played for a total of four teams within his ten seasons in the majors. He was an asset in helping the Dodgers win the World Series in 2020, and the Braves in 2021. Now, according to MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert, Joc Pederson signed a one-year deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks, with a mutual option for 2025. With his skillset, Pederson will look to maximize his potential even at 31 years of age. It’s going to be interesting how Pederson performs in 2024.
The @Dbacks deal with Joc Pederson is for 1 year with a mutual option for 2025.
— Steve Gilbert (@SteveGilbertMLB) January 26, 2024
Joc Pederson Signs with Diamondbacks
During the 2023 season, Joc Pederson’s most efficient pitch to hit was a sinker. Against the sinker, Pederson had a .367 batting average, and against a splitter, he put up a .333 average. Pederson’s least effective pitches to hit were a changeup and a sweeper. His batting average against a changeup was .170, while against a sweeper it was .167. 11 of his 15 home runs came off of fastballs, where he had an average of .227 against the pitch, but had a slugging percentage of .518. Joc struck out 29 percent of the time against a slider, and nearly 28 percent against a curveball. He simply needs to get better at handling breaking balls at the plate during the 2024 season.
Pederson’s Stats with the Giants
In 121 games with the San Francisco Giants last season and in 358 total at-bats, two-time World Series champion Joc Pederson collected 84 hits, 15 of those being home runs, while having 51 runs batted in with a .235 batting average. This is a drop from Pederson’s 2022 campaign when he had 23 homers, 70 runs batted in, and a .274 batting average in 134 games. His best game of the 2023 season was on June 18th against the Chicago Cubs. Joc went 4-for-4 with two home runs and four runs batted in during a 13-3 victory.
Photo Credit: “Dodgers outfielder Joc Pederson argues a strike call in the ninth inning.” by apardavila is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
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