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In the 11th round of the 2010 Major League Baseball draft, Pederson was selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers. He had committed to play at the University of Southern California, where his father played college baseball, but Joc chose instead to sign with the Dodgers. The bonus was the second-highest given to any draft pick the Dodgers signed that year, and it was four times the amount typically given to players drafted after the fifth round.
He went 2-for-4 with a run scored and a strikeout in the second game, also stealing a base. During the third and final game, Pederson went 1-for-4, scored two runs, walked twice, struck out, and stole a base. One of Pederson's Team Israel coaches was Gabe Kapler, who nine years later became his manager with the San Francisco Giants. On May 24, Pederson hit three home runs and eight RBIs as he led the Giants to a 13–12 win over the New York Mets. Pederson became the second Giant to hit three home runs in a game at Oracle Park, joining Pablo Sandoval. His eight RBIs matched the San Francisco-era Giants record also held by Willie Mays, Orlando Cepeda, and Brandon Crawford.
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On May 1, he hit his first major league grand slam off of Rubby De La Rosa of the Diamondbacks, a 446-foot blow. Pederson homered in both games of a day-night doubleheader on June 2; his second homer travelled an estimated 480 feet. On June 3, he homered in his fifth consecutive game, becoming only the fifth Dodgers to ever do so. On Monday, longtime Dodgers outfielder Joc Pederson was the latest MLB player to have an...interesting exchange with a MLB fan. Pederson's Giants were trailing the Brewers 1-0 in Milwaukee in the eighth inning. During his at-bat, a fan started heckling the left-handed slugger.
He had 58 RBIs and 10 outfield assists in 123 games during the season, usually batting in the leadoff spot. Pederson earned postseason All-Star honors, was a Topps Double-A All Star, and was a Baseball America Minor League All Star. He then played winter ball for the Cardenales de Lara in the Venezuelan Winter League, where he had a .439 on-base percentage. He was ranked the Dodgers' # 1 prospect by Baseball America after the 2013 season.
Professional career
On Pederson's playoff success, Dodgers starting pitcher Alex Wood quipped, "They call it 'Joctober' for a reason." Pederson had seven hits in 18 at bats in that series. In Game 5 of the 2020 World Series, Pederson hit the fifth home run of his World Series career, a second-inning solo shot against Tyler Glasnow that prove to be the winning margin of victory in Los Angeles's 4–2 triumph. Max Muncy noted that "The guy performs on the huge stage. This is just what he does." In the World Series, Pederson had four hits in 10 at bats as the Dodgers won the championship. Pederson agreed to a one-year, $5 million contract with the Dodgers for 2019, avoiding salary arbitration. He platooned in left field with Chris Taylor, though Pederson would finish the year with a career-high 450 at bats. On May 14, Pederson hit his 100th career home run against San Diego Padres starting pitcher Chris Paddack.
Pederson was awarded a $7.5 million salary for the 2020 season, after losing an arbitration hearing with the Dodgers. The MLB season did not start until July 24 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, the season lasted only 60 games; Pederson appeared in 43 of them.
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On February 5, 2021, Pederson signed a one-year $7 million guaranteed contract with the Chicago Cubs which included a mutual option for the 2022 season. He was motivated to sign with the Cubs because he hoped for more playing time than he had received with the Dodgers. Due to his usual #31 being retired by the Cubs for both Greg Maddux and Fergie Jenkins, Pederson chose to sport the new number of #24 for his tenure with the team as he began the season starting in left field daily. He was placed on the injured list on April 22, and was struggling offensively at the time, hitting .137 with 1 HR, 4 RBIs, and 20 strikeouts. Pederson returned on May 3, and was inserted into the leadoff spot in the lineup, as regular leadoff hitter Ian Happ had ended up on the injured list after an outfield collision. Of his final 57 games with the Cubs, 42 were starts from the leadoff position, and he raised his batting average as high as .269.
He batted second for Team Israel, and hit .308 with three steals. Pederson started all three games of the qualifier in right field. During the first game, Pederson went 1 for 5 with two strikeouts and left three runners on base.
Though still used primarily as a corner outfielder, he began getting a few starts at designated hitter as the NL implemented the position for the first time that season. In the second game of a doubleheader against the Padres on August 5, he hit two home runs and had five RBIs in a 7–6 Dodger triumph. For the second year in a row, Pederson reached the playoffs as the Dodgers clinched their fourth straight NL West title. In the third inning of Game 4 of the 2016 NLDS against the Nationals, Pederson had a painful RBI, driving in a run when Joe Ross hit him with a pitch with the bases loaded. Pederson later had an RBI double in the fifth inning against Reynaldo López, and the Dodgers won 6–5.
He also played for the school's football team, leading it with 30 receptions in his senior year, for 650 yards and 9 touchdowns. Pederson was the team's number one wide receiver, racking up more yards and touchdowns than his teammate, future NFL two-time All Pro First Team wide receiver Davante Adams, who was a Junior at the time. Through 2021, he had a .501 career slugging percentage against right-handed pitching, and since his first full season in 2015, he ranked 5th among NL outfielders in home runs , and 7th in walks . He had played 412 games in center field, 229 games in left field, 54 games in right field, and 20 games at first base. Then in Game 2 of the 2021 National League Championship Series, Pederson hit a two-run home run against three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer, as the Braves came from behind to beat the Dodgers 5–4. With 12 playoff home runs, Pederson tied Hall of Famer Yogi Berra for 24th on the all-time list.
His home run against Max Scherzer in the seventh inning of Game 5 forced Scherzer from the game and opened the scoring for the Dodgers, who won 4–3 to advance to the NL Championship Series against the Chicago Cubs. In Game 3 of the NLCS, he had an RBI single against Mike Montgomery and scored a run as the Dodgers beat the Cubs 6–0. He had four hits in 21 at bats in the series, scoring three runs, but the Dodgers fell to the Cubs in six games. Batting .230 with 20 home runs before the All-Star Game, he would only hit six in the second half of the season, batting .178 for the remainder of the season. On August 23, Pederson lost his starting center fielder job due to his extended slump.
A Brewers fan behind home plate started heckling Pederson, who had previous stops with the Dodgers, Cubs and Braves. San Francisco Giants' Joc Pederson hits a two-run home run during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers Monday, April 25, 2022, in Milwaukee. San Francisco Giants' Joc Pederson is congratulated after hitting a two-run home run during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers Monday, April 25, 2022, in Milwaukee. San Francisco Giants' Joc Pederson reacts after hitting a two-run home run during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers Monday, April 25, 2022, in Milwaukee. Pederson was up for it, as he hit 29 homers to send the round into a tie, something that had never happened before in home run derby history.
Pederson lost on the final swing, and Guerrero went on to hit a derby-record 91 total home runs during the derby and beat New York’s Pete Alonso by one long ball. Los Angeles’ Jimmy Rollins, right, is congratulated by Joc Pederson, center, and Andre Ethier after hitting a three-run home run during the eighth inning Monday in Los Angeles. The outfielder stared at the heckler as he trotted around the bases for the go-ahead dinger. Then, when he crossed home plate, he took one last shot in his direction. The San Francisco Giants outfielder was targeted with heckling during the eighth inning of Monday’s game between the Giants and Brewers.
"Joc Pederson is the Dodgers' No. 1 prospect, No. 34 in baseball, and I still think he's underrated" – via Twitter. Jul 5, 2022; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; San Francisco Giants outfielder Joc Pederson prior to the game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. The Pederson home run brings back memories of a similar moment involving Rizzo in 2016. Rizzo was mired in a slump to start the postseason and switched bats, using outfielder Matt Szczur's.
From May 19 through June 1, Pederson recorded 16 hits in 33 at bats, raising his batting average from .218 to .274, though it would fall back to .239 at the All-Star Break. Pederson participated in the Home Run Derby at the 2019 MLB All-Star Game, and lost in the semi-finals to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in a battle that went to a swing off tie-breaker. From September 1 to 4, he became the second player in National League history to have an extra-base hit in six consecutive at bats. In his senior year, Pederson batted .466 with a .577 on-base percentage and an .852 slugging percentage, with 20 stolen bases in 22 attempts, playing center field and leading off for the school's baseball team.
Pederson added his injuries are not bad enough to prevent him from playing, but he doesn’t feel 100 percent healthy. Pederson stepped out of the batters box and stared at the heckler, who the broadcast described as “screaming” at the 30-year-old. Then, he stepped back into the box – and promptly launched a 435-foot home run to deep center field. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Now the Dodgers should release him Pitcher Trevor Bauer had his two-year suspension under MLB’s joint domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse policy reduced by an arbitrator to 194 games.
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