Los Angeles Dodgers: Three biggest losers of Spring Training thus far

2. Joc Pederson

If you have been unable to watch the Los Angeles Dodgers’ spring training games and have only been able to follow along with the highlights on Twitter and ESPN, you might think Joc Pederson is having a good spring.

Pederson has hit two absolute moon shots this spring that make it appear as if he is continuing his good 2018 campaign in full stride. I mean, c’mon, people don’t just hit baseballs as far as Pederson hit this massive home run against the Kansas City Royals.

That is not a fair representation of how Pederson has performed this spring. What is a fair representation is how Pederson has hit just .130 in 27 plate appearances — that is lower than AA outfielder DJ Peters has in 23 plate appearances (.182).

Pederson has just three hits this spring, the two massive home runs and a double that he hit on Sunday against the Colorado Rockies. The worst part? He has struck out 12 times. Striking out in 44 percent of your plate appearances against some minor league arms is not a great sign.

It is a small sample size and this does not mean that Pederson cannot be successful as a power-hitting bat off the bench for the Dodgers this year. However, this showing should be enough evidence to Dave Roberts and the Dodgers to firmly give Alex Verdugo the starting job in left field.