The Dodgers have promoted top prospect Joc Pederson, Ryan Walton of Valley Bay News tweets. Pederson still needs to be added to their 40-man roster.
Pederson is in the midst of an offensive season that’s brilliant even in the desert air of Triple-A Albuquerque, hitting .303/.435/.582 in 553 plate appearances. MLB.com currently ranks Pederson the No. 18 prospect in baseball, praising his power (he has 33 home runs so far this season) and plate discipline, but noting that he needs to work on hitting left-handers. Before the season, Baseball America ranked Pederson at No. 34, and ESPN’s Keith Law had him at No. 41.
BA’s Prospect Handbook 2014 ranked Pederson the No. 1 prospect in the Dodgers system, noting that he receives comparisons to players like Curtis Granderson and Jim Edmonds. The Granderson comparison might be apt — Pederson is a lefty hitter who draws plenty of walks and also strikes out a lot, with 149 whiffs so far this year at Triple-A. Whether Pederson will be able to overcome those minor league strikeouts as smoothly as Granderson did remains to be seen, but he’s still an exciting talent with strong tools across the board. He can play all three outfield positions, and he mostly played center with Albuquerque.
Where Pederson will fit with the Dodgers right now is unclear, however. The Dodgers have a number of outfielders who are either performing well (Yasiel Puig, Scott Van Slyke) or very expensive (Carl Crawford, Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier), and they’ll need to sort through them in order to find playing time for Pederson.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
About time they promote him
hallelujah! joc-puig-kemp lets see it Donny.
He won’t be eligible for the post-season so I doubt they’re planning to use him as any more than a 4th or 5th OF. It’s definitely a good thing to get his feet wet this September.
True, I just want to see him get some burn. crawfords been playing better as of late anyways so we’ll see how much/if any playing time joc gets especially with the giants pulling closer. Congrats on the cardinals for gaining sole position of 1st today.
Ha thanks. Hopefully we’ll have another great playoff series.
Joc *will* be eligible for the postseason. There’s frequent confusion about these rules, but a player just needs to be in the organization by 8/31. If the Dodgers want to use Pederson in the playoffs, he’ll be an injury replacement for one of their DL guys.
I thought anyone had to be on the 40 man roster prior to September 1st. I could be wrong.
Only if the player is acquired by trade. Minor league guys who have been with the organization all year are always playoff eligible (as a DL replacement).
Do you think he will get regular playing time? He’s coming up as the 6th OF…
Probably 3rd best though.
Also had 30 steals.
What about Guerrero?
He got the call too.
He’s working out the lefty problems, thankfully. In fact, his OPS against lefties (1.020) is higher than against righties (1.015) this season.
Great work Stu (Dad) & Joc. All that work has paid off. Congrats from the Anc.
Glacier Pilots.
So excited! Even though its very unlikely, there is a possibility that he could develop to a 5 Tool Hitter.
Joc was put on the 40 man roster is he able to be in the playoffs? Somebody have the answer!!
i dont know but i doubt they keep him on the playoff roster if he was. they have him up to get a taste of playing with the dodgers. unless a OF get injury i doubt he will be anymore then a call up for the last month