So, what are we talking about with the young King of Smirk, Dodgers' rookie Joc Pederson, who crashed into one of the most crowded outfields last season (until half of them crashed and burned, that is, and Matt Kemp was traded to the Padres, apparently obsessed with having an even more crowded outfield than their nemesis to the north) and has emerged as the front-runner in the NL ROY sweepstakes.We are, as we used to do a good bit more when there were a good bit more of them, talking about walks. Pederson is highly unusual in that, as a young player, he has shown a very good batting eye: he walked exactly 100 times in the minors last year. He has retained that during the first two months of 2015 and is currently on pace to draw 106 walks for the year.
There have only been five rookies in MLB history who've drawn 100+ walks:
--Bill Joyce (123 in 1890, playing for Brooklyn Ward's Wonders of the Players League)--Roy Thomas (115 in 1899, with the Philadelphia Phillies)
--Lu Blue (103 in 1921, with the Detroit Tigers)
--Ted Williams (107 in 1939, with...er, we think you know who he played for)
--Jim Gilliam (100, in 1953, with the Dodgers while still in Brooklyn)
Joc is on track, but everything will have to break right: he'll need to stay healthy and play in just about every game, because his pace is right on the cusp of making it over the line. Being moved to the top of the order would seem to help, since it will tend to get him more plate appearances, but he seems to be walking less in the #1 slot.
As we so often say...stay tuned.
