Joc Pederson might be an All-Star, but he’s not exactly an everyday player.
Well not an everyday starter, at least. Pederson has actually appeared in 76 of the Giants’ 87 games, but only started in 63, often platooned out when San Francisco faces a left-handed pitcher. In fact, Pederson’s 225 at-bats mean he technically doesn’t qualify in most statistical categories.
Because Joc has put up such excellent numbers at the plate this year (17 HRs, .856 OPS) many Giants fans have been frustrated when he isn’t in the lineup. Interestingly, Pederson himself couldn’t feel more different. The outfielder joined the Murph and Mac Show yesterday and said he almost never expects to be in the lineup against lefties, something he completely understands.
“I haven’t performed well in the past against lefties and I signed up to play against righties,” Pederson said on KNBR. “That was kind of what we agreed upon when I signed a deal. Obviously Farhan [Zaidi]’s really smart in constructing a roster that’s able to mix and match and put people in the best situations to succeed.
“That’s kind of what I signed up for. Things change, but we have really good guys on the bench that are able to come in and put together great at-bats like [Austin] Slater and [Darin Ruf]. I’m just doing what I can to help the team and when Kapler puts me in there I’m doing my best and when he doesn’t there are people who do their best.”
It makes sense why Pederson signed up to hit against right-handers. The left-handed hitter has a .836 career OPS against righties as opposed to a .614 OPS against lefties. Pederson is a little better against lefties this year at .673, but is still much better against right-handers (.886).
For now, Pederson is happy hitting against the pitchers he has the advantage over.
“I knew what I was coming into. I’ve excelled at that role in the past.”
Listen to the full interview below. You can listen to every KNBR interview on our podcast page at knbr.com/podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Catch Murph & Mac weekdays from 6 – 10 a.m. on KNBR 104.5 / 680 and streaming live on KNBR.com.