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Signing Joc Pederson Paying Off for San Francisco

This off-season, the San Francisco Giants signed outfielder Joc Pederson to a one-year $6 million contract. It’s a move that has paid off so far for San Francisco.

Pederson is hitting .270 with 17 home runs and 39 RBIs; he is tenth in the MLB in home runs. Pederson’s slugging percentage is .573, and he has OPS of .917. The former Atlanta Braves player mostly plays against right-handed pitching. So far this season, Pederson only has 21 at-bats against lefties. Sixteen of Pederson’s 17 home runs came against right-handed pitching.

Pederson went on a 5-50 slump at one point this season, and a pregame conversation with former Giants player Barry Bonds helped him get out of his slump. After talking to Bonds, Pederson homered three times and drove in a career-high eight runs, including a tying single with two outs in the ninth inning, and the San Francisco Giants beat the New York Mets 13-12.

Just getting knowledge from such a good hitter and the way he thinks about baseball and hitting, it just helped to connect some dots to free my mind up at the plate,” Pederson said. “I’m not ever going to be Barry Bonds; he’s the best hitter to touch a bat. But it definitely helped free my mind up in the box.”

Pederson spent the first seven years of his career with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He had three 20-home run seasons and a 36-home run season in 2019. After the 2020 season, Pederson signed a one-year contract with the Chicago Cubs but was traded to the Braves at the trade deadline.

In 2021, Pederson hit .238 with 18 home runs. Pederson played on the last two World Series-winning teams, that bold well for the Giants. If Pederson keeps this up, it will help the Giants win a lot of games, but it’s a long season; let’s hope Pederson can play like he did in 2019 but better. 

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