2025 Fantasy Baseball: Joc Pederson Profile, Preview, Predictions
I'm curious what Joc Pederson's career stats would look like if he played for a team that allowed his bat to develop against left-handed pitching. His bat has plenty of power, and Pederson will take some walks.
Joc Pederson demolishes home run No. 20.
— MLB (@MLB) August 19, 2024
This is now his 6th season with 20+ homers 💪 pic.twitter.com/73nFoubBoW
DH – Joc Pederson, TEX (ADP – 335)
Pederson enters his 12th season in the majors, but he has never had more than 480 at-bats in a year. Over the past three seasons, he hit .262 over 1,105 at-bats with 178 runs, 61 home runs, 185 RBIs, and 100 steals. Surprisingly, Pederson set a career-high in steals (7) in 2024 at age 32.
In his career, Pederson hit .210 against left-handed pitching with 15 home runs, 68 RBIs, and 188 strikeouts (29.0%) over 567 at-bats. The Diamondbacks only gave him 32 at-bats against lefties (7-for-32 with 6 runs, one home run, and four RBIs) last season.
Pederson had empty stats in April (.288/11/2/5 over 59 at-bats) and September (.225/6/2/4/1 over 49 at-bats). Over the other four months, he was a serviceable backend outfielder (.282 with 45 runs, 19 home runs, 55 RBIs, and six stolen bases over 259 at-bats). His walk rate (12.1) over this span was an advantage while striking out 25.3% of the time.
His average hit rate (1.871) supports over 30 home runs if ever given more than 500 at-bats. Pederson's contact batting average (.385) was a five-year high and well above 2023 (.312). He continues to have strength in his exit velocity (92.2 mph) with a new top in his launch angle (17.0) despite regression in his fly-ball rate (40.3). His hard-hit rate (45.2) came in below his previous two seasons (52.1 and 52.2).
Fantasy Outlook: Pederson has a professional bat who has never reached his ceiling due to lack of opportunity vs. left-handed pitching. The Rangers signed him for $37 million for two seasons in late December. Texas tends to roll out its best lineup on most days, but he still projects as a platoon player against righties. I’ve been a fan of him in his career, and Pederson has a better profile than most dirty power hitters late in drafts.
He ranked 84th in FPGscore (-0.59) in 2024, helped by his spike in steals. Pederson is the 209th hitter off the table this draft season in the high-stakes market, inviting a buying opportunity in deep formats and AL-only leagues. Think .260/60/20/60 with a chance to beat expectations if given a premium slot in the batting order.
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With 20+ years of experience in the high-stakes fantasy market, I aim to research and compete at the highest level in baseball and football each season. I've contributed as a writer/analyst for Sports Draft Daily, ScoutPro, Scout Fantasy, Fulltime Fantasy, FFToolbox, and Sports Illustrated Fantasy. I'm honored to be in the National Fantasy Baseball Championship Hall of Fame. My drafting philosophy is risk-averse yet open to betting on potential game-changers. I approach player selection with a neutral perspective, acknowledging that fantasy sports are inherently unpredictable due to injuries, performance dips, and managerial decisions. My work focuses on these main areas: - Season-long fantasy baseball and football - BestBall Baseball and Football Events - Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS): DraftKings, FanDuel, and Underdog - Long Shot Player Prop Parlays for NFL I participate in various leagues and contests, including NFBC, NFFC, RTSports, FFPC, DraftKings, Underdog Fantasy, FanDuel, and FFWC, with the goal of leveraging my extensive experience and research for success in each game format. A fantasy follower can expect in-depth profiles of NFL and MLB players, along with season-long and weekly projections for each fantasy football season. In addition, I have many strategy articles to help develop fantasy players' learning curves.