Joc Pederson's Stats, Metrics, Game Logs, Projections & Rankings

Arizona Diamondbacks designated hitter Joc Pederson has declined the end of his mutual option and will test free agency, according to Jesse Rogers of ESPN. The 32-year-old slugger enjoyed a fantastic season in the desert in 2024, posting a career-best .275/.393/.515 slash line with 23 home runs and 64 RBI. Even though Pederson was in a strict platoon, he was still a valuable fantasy contributor during the entire season. He boasted a stellar 12.8% barrel rate and 46.2% hard-hit rate under the hood. Fantasy managers should expect Pederson to continue to be deployed on the strong side of a platoon in 2025, but he should still be a popular target for power, given his excellent underlying metrics.

Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder/designated hitter Joc Pederson is out of the starting lineup on Thursday against the division-rival San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park with a left-hander on the mound. With Pederson starting on the bench versus a southpaw, like usual, first baseman Josh Bell will serve as the DH and will bat third against Giants lefty Blake Snell. Bell has only faced Snell three times in his career, but his one hit against him was a solo home run. Pederson has only faced left-handers 38 times all year, so by this point in the season, fantasy managers should be used to sitting him when the D-backs are facing a left-hander. He's gone 7-for-29 (.241) against southpaws with only one of his 21 home runs on the season. The veteran lefty slugger has been cold of late, batting .200 (4-for-20) with a homer, two RBI and eight strikeouts in his last eight games since Aug. 25.

Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder/designated hitter Joc Pederson and rookie catcher Adrian Del Castillo are both out for Thursday's series finale against the visiting New York Mets at Chase Field. Randal Grichuk is serving as Arizona's DH and is in the two-hole, while Jose Herrera is doing the catching and batting ninth against Mets left-hander David Peterson. It should be no surprise that Pederson is sitting, as he has seen only 36 plate appearances all year against southpaws, going 6-for-27 (.222) against them with only one of his 21 homers. Del Castillo has been a revelation since taking over for the injured Gabriel Moreno behind the plate, batting .354 (17-for-48) with three homers and 14 RBI in his first 14 big-league games. Grichuk might be worth a look in DFS lineups; he's hit .429 with a .929 OPS in seven career at-bats against Peterson.