Dodgers All-Star Game profile: Joc Pederson

After a whirlwind Monday that helped put Joc Pederson in the national conversation, here is a look at the Dodgers All-Star outfielder heading into Tuesday night in Cincinnati.

What went right

Pederson hit .230/.364/.487 while playing stellar defense in center field. He is 30th in the majors with a .368 wOBA and 23rd in wRC+ (140).

Pederson hit 20 home runs before July 1, joining Wally Berger (22 for the 1930 Boston Braves) and Albert Puols (21 for the 2001 Cardinals) as the only rookies in National League history to do so.

He also walked 58 times, fourth in the majors. Pederson is just the fifth Dodgers player ever with 20 home runs and 50 walks before the All-Star break, and the first since Gary Sheffield in 2000.

What went wrong

Pederson has a batting average of .230 and leads the National League with 107 strikeouts, on pace for 193 whiffs, which would shatter the Dodgers record of 170 set by Matt Kemp in 2010. The low batting average and strikeouts are part of the total package with Pederson, whose body of work as a whole this season has still been quite productive.

The only concern, if any, is that Pederson went into the break with just three home runs in his last 36 games, hitting only .175/.322/.308 dating back to June 4 (cherry picking endpoints here, as Pederson homered in each of his four games before this chosen period).

All-Star notes

Pederson is the first Dodgers rookie position player to start an All-Star Game, and just the sixth Dodgers rookie All-Star overall, joining Don Newcombe (1949), Fernando Valenzuela (1981), Steve Sax (1982), Mike Piazza (1993) and Hideo Nomo (1995). Valenzuela and Nomo both started on the mound as rookies.

Pederson will play left field on Tuesday night, the first time this season he has done so, and will bat eighth for the National League.

The last Dodger to start an All-Star Game in left field was Tommy Davis in 1963. The last Dodger to start and bat eighth in the midsummer classic was Jeff Kent in 2005.

Great American Ballpark

Pederson has hit 39 career home runs in Cincinnati, but has yet to play a regular season game at the stadium.