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Pederson's 2015 was a tale of two halves: .851 OPS with 20 HRs & 40 RBIs in the 1st half, followed by an abysmal .617 OPS with 6 HRs and 12 RBIs in the second half. If you sold high after the AS Break, you made out like a bandit.
But what to make of Pederson for 2016? If he starts the season like he ended last year, he could find himself back in Albuquerque real quick. But I think there's a lot to really like here:
1) He walks. A lot.
This is unusual for such a young player (he's 23). His 92 BBs placed him 7th in MLB last year, but if you look at players who walked 70+ times in 2015 and were age 25 or younger, it's a pretty elite list: Harper, Trout, Rizzo, Bryant, Machado.
2) His on-base ability should lead to better things.
In 585 PAs, Pederson got on-base via a hit or walk 193 times. Add in 9 HBP, and that's over 200. But he scored just 67 runs, of which 26 came on his HRs. He was the team's leadoff hitter for much of the 1st half, but then was dropped to 8th. With his OBP ability, he really should be hitting 1st or 2nd. And if he turns things around and can stay in those spots, his Run total should increase.
3) He was a SB machine in the minors.
He stole 26, 26, 31 and 32 bases in his four full ML seasons, but was successful on just 4 of 11 attempts in the majors. Why didn't he run more? Was it Mattingly? I would assume Dave Roberts will give him the green light more often, so combined with his elite OBP ability, could we see a return to 20+ SBs?
His .210 BA was the lowest of his pro career, but I'd expect that to bounce back some. I'm not sure what drove his 2nd half collapse (his BABIP was .232, which is low but not ghastly), but if he regains his confidence and starts to do some of the things he did in the minors, we could be looking at a potential 20/20 player here.
But what to make of Pederson for 2016? If he starts the season like he ended last year, he could find himself back in Albuquerque real quick. But I think there's a lot to really like here:
1) He walks. A lot.
This is unusual for such a young player (he's 23). His 92 BBs placed him 7th in MLB last year, but if you look at players who walked 70+ times in 2015 and were age 25 or younger, it's a pretty elite list: Harper, Trout, Rizzo, Bryant, Machado.
2) His on-base ability should lead to better things.
In 585 PAs, Pederson got on-base via a hit or walk 193 times. Add in 9 HBP, and that's over 200. But he scored just 67 runs, of which 26 came on his HRs. He was the team's leadoff hitter for much of the 1st half, but then was dropped to 8th. With his OBP ability, he really should be hitting 1st or 2nd. And if he turns things around and can stay in those spots, his Run total should increase.
3) He was a SB machine in the minors.
He stole 26, 26, 31 and 32 bases in his four full ML seasons, but was successful on just 4 of 11 attempts in the majors. Why didn't he run more? Was it Mattingly? I would assume Dave Roberts will give him the green light more often, so combined with his elite OBP ability, could we see a return to 20+ SBs?
His .210 BA was the lowest of his pro career, but I'd expect that to bounce back some. I'm not sure what drove his 2nd half collapse (his BABIP was .232, which is low but not ghastly), but if he regains his confidence and starts to do some of the things he did in the minors, we could be looking at a potential 20/20 player here.
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