New Arrival: Joc Pederson, of, Los Angeles Dodgers

I have been eyeballing this card for a couple years now and was finally able to snag one for under $10. Pretty happy.

Joc Pederson was drafted in the 11th round (352nd overall) by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2010. He moved quickly through the system, and by 2013 was the Dodgers #1 prospect. He caught my eye in 2012. He was playing for High-A Rancho Cucamonga and was hitting .313/.396/.516 with 18 HR with 26 stolen bases. Amazing numbers–I am a sucker for guys with high OBP. I wrote to him and I was thrilled to get this back a couple weeks later:

When he blew up in 2015 it was great to see. He was amazing with the Dodgers, hitting .210/.346/.417 with 25 HR and made the All-Star team. I snagged this card, which I really dug.

Two years ago I had the chance to meet him here in Hawaii, during a baseball clinic that he was part of. I ended up getting Corey Seager, but I could not get myself to bug Joc. He has a reputation of being a little prickly with autograph people and considering I am a legitimate fan I didn’t want to risk him giving me shit and me getting all bent out of shape over it. Over the years that has happened a couple times–Rusty Greer, Yan Gomes and Kenny Rogers come to mind–so it something I like to avoid if I can.

Anyway.

Joc has had some bumps in the road since 2015, but he looks like he has things figured out and having a great 2018 campaign: .248/.324/.520 with 18 HR–good for an OPS+ of 125. And I think the best is yet to come, since he has not yet hit his prime. The Dodgers are lucky to have him.