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I said I would believe Joc Pederson would sit against right-handed pitching when I saw it, and my eyes have now seen it, for the first time all season, in the Dodgers' series finale against the Astros on Sunday afternoon.
Kiké Hernandez gets the call in center field for the second straight game, but this time it's against right-hander Lance McCullers.
Pederson started all 95 games against right-handed pitchers this season before Sunday, hitting .217/.370/.466 against righties all season.
Pederson has struggled mightily since the beginning of July, hitting just .154/.302/.269 with three home runs in his last 41 games, after hitting .244/.384/.527 with 20 home runs in 78 games in the first three months of the season.
His slump came to a head when he was benched for two games basically to clear his head on July 30-31 against the Angels, conveniently against a pair of southpaw starting pitchers. Pederson started the final game of that series, but ended his homestand in an 0-for-17 slump including three consecutive games of 0-for-4 with three strikeouts.
Since then, and in the midst of a swing change, Pederson's patience has returned, walking 20 times in his last 17 games for a .441 on-base percentage, against 14 strikeouts in 59 plate appearances. But he's also 5-for-37 during that span with two home runs and a double, good for a .135 batting average and .324 slugging percentage (and a .136 batting average on balls in play).
Hernandez is hitting .344/.412/.557 with four doubles and three home runs in 22 games since the All-Star break, including 17 starts. This will be the 12th straight start for Hernandez since Howie Kendrick was placed on the disabled list, and Saturday night getting pinch hit for in the seventh inning was the first time during that span that Hernandez didn't play the entire game.
As for how long this center field arrangement will continue, manager Don Mattingly used a familiar, nebulous phrase on Sunday:
Don Mattingly went to his standby in describing why Kiké Hernandez is in CF over Pederson: "I feel like he gives us a better chance to win."
— Pedro Moura (@pedromoura) August 23, 2015
At the same time, Mattingly had nice words for Pederson, too.
Mattingly praising Pederson's work ethic. "I have no doubt Joc's going to end up being a great player."
— Dylan Hernandez (@dylanohernandez) August 23, 2015
Sunday also marks a milestone of sorts for Hernandez, making his 10th start in center field. The super utility man has also started 15 games at second base and 11 games at shortstop, plus five more in left field and once in right field.
He joins Derrel Thomas (1980) as the only Dodgers ever with at least 10 starts at second base, shortstop and center field in the same season. Thomas in 1980 started 42 games at short, 14 in center field, 12 at second base, once in left field, and most amazingly of all, three games at catcher!
Carl Crawford gets the start at designated hitter for the Dodgers on Sunday, and A.J. Ellis catches Clayton Kershaw on the day game after the night game.