Dodgers: Dave Roberts Addresses Joc Pederson, AJ Pollock, and Left Field
Just a few days after his trade was called off, Joc Pederson has his role with the Dodgers confirmed. Dave Roberts spoke with media on Thursday to discuss the season ahead and left-field starts were one of the main concerns.
Roberts said Joc Pederson will likely play LF vs. RHP, sharing time with AJ Pollock.
— Ken Gurnick (@kengurnick) February 13, 2020
Joc Pederson has long been a platoon type of player, only getting at-bats against right-handed pitching. When AJ Pollock was brought on, the Dodgers certainly did not ever imagine him being a part-time guy. After all, paying $60 million for a guy that will not play every day is a tough pill to swallow.
But last season, Pollock hit left-handed pitching much better than he has for most of his career. Pollock slashed .323/.370/.535 in 99 at-bats against southpaws in 2019. Pederson, on the other hand, has hit lefties at a .188 mark for his career.
Enter to Win a Cody Bellinger Jersey!
[adace-ad id=”119376″]All of that combined with the acquisition of Mookie Betts means there will be plenty of split time for the two in left. That is assuming that both guys are still on the team when the season starts.
Roberts when on to address a couple of other areas on the roster, including the stacked starting rotation.
Roberts said he has 8 or 9 contenders for the starting rotation.
— Ken Gurnick (@kengurnick) February 13, 2020
With pitchers and catchers reporting this week, it sure is an exciting time to be a Dodger fan.
NEXT: Friedman Calls Pederson Trade Rumors “Awkward”
Thank you Dave Roberts for making this announcement. Our outfield is set. People know their roles. We have some stability.
IDK, but if both are still on the roster when the season starts I honestly do not believe for 1 minute that either Joc or Pollock would be happy and be ‘all in’ for a platoon situation, as neither want to be platooned.
I’m sure if Pollock was willing to void his contract so he could play full-time, the Dodgers would gladly oblige.
AZUL, Roberts has already announced his first platoon of the 2020 season : Pollock and Joc (who gave us 36 home runs in 2019. I hope this is not the beginning of a long line of platoons. Also interesting rumor that with our surplus of pitchers, May’s place MAY be in the minors when the season begins. This from a guy who made it to post season play last year. The more things change, the more they stay the season. PD Jr. and I need to confer about the 2020 season. Go Blue!!! Hope you are well.
LF better be the only platoon spot. No justification anywhere else this year unless Lux really struggles
I don’t believe Joc will be a Dodger come opening day.
With the 3 batter minimum rule for pitchers, Joc is going to be facing a lot fewer lefties this year. Bad for Kolarek, good for Joc.
If Pollock is unhappy in a platoon situation, then all he has to do is start hitting both lefties and righties and staying healthy.
I would not have been unhappy to have seen him traded in place of Verdugo (his salary was the reason he was not a candidate).
I think Matt Beaty will hit as good as Verdugo would have had he still been a Dodger, so Pedersen might sit in favor of Beaty during one of Pedersen’s slumps. Then there is Taylor and Keke to spell Turner occasionally, Seager less than Turner, and platoon with Lux in the event Lux does not hit well against lefties. Of course injuries should give everyone enough playing time to keep all of them sharp.
Dodgers make good deceision in keeping peterson a good power hitter