Dodgers: Five players on the bubble for the postseason roster

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OF Joc Pederson

This one may pain me the most. Before Joc Pederson was even called up to the major leagues he was shaping to be my favorite Dodger. Heck, I have a Pederson jersey that is 9-0 in Dodger games that it has been to. While this means nothing, my personal love for Pederson will make this reality hard to deal with.

But the fact is, this is a reality that Pederson, and his fans, are going to have to cope with. When Pederson is on, he has one of the best power hitting bats in the majors. We have seen Pederson come up with big home runs, such as his solo shot in game five of the 2016 NLDS. It is these glimpses, these clutch moments that come out of nowhere, that keep the hope of Pederson alive.

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The fact of the matter is though that Pederson is not seeing the baseball well enough to compete with October pitching. In what seemed to be a turnaround year for Pederson we have seen his batting average dip to .208, his home runs fall to 11 and his starting spot to be lost to Chris Taylor.

Plus, the Dodgers’ moves at the end of the season telegraphed this decision far before it had to be made. Los Angeles went out and acquired a better version of Pederson in Curtis Granderson. While I personally do not like Granderson, because he has hit .129 as a Dodger, he does hit home runs at a far more regular rate. In fact, six of his 12 hits as a Dodger are home runs.

That trade for Granderson was meant to be a wake-up call for Pederson. The message was simple: get better, or we are going to have to find someone else to do your job.

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Well, the team went out and found someone else to do Pederson’s job, and now, his chances of playing in October seem slim to none.

Verdict: Does not make postseason roster

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