Dodgers: Who has the best chance of starting in LF in 2018?

5. Joc Pederson

If it was not for a very strong performance in the World Series, Joc Pederson’s name may be in trade talks if he was not sent back down to AAA. The softball swinging left-hander has struggled to give any consistent output for the Los Angeles Dodgers after a strong first-half to his rookie season.

This led to Pederson even losing a major league job last season when he was sent down to AAA Oklahoma City to work on his mechanics. Whether or not that had a big impact is yet to be seen, but it at least turned in a solid World Series performance. Pederson went six for 18 with two doubles, three home runs and five RBIs.

However, this does not take away from the fact that Pederson is a career .222 hitter and strikes out in 26.7% of his plate appearances. Before, Pederson’s speed and explosiveness in the field could carry him to a starting job. However, the Dodgers reportedly asked Pederson to improve his conditioning, thus signaling they are not happy with his current physical state.

Regardless, Pederson is in no way an everyday starter. The Dodgers need to utilize Pederson in matchups that make sense to utilize his power. Perhaps that is not even in left field at all, backing up Chris Taylor in center makes sense for Pederson.