Dodgers center fielder Joc Pederson has had 347 at-bats this season. He has struck out in 122 of them. You don’t have to be a math major to quickly realize that this is more than one-third of them – .351 percent to be exact.

Is Dodgers manager Don Mattingly concerned about this? The short answer is yes, a little concerned.

“Yeah, a little bit,” Mattingly said after Tuesday night’s game in which Pederson struck out in three of his four at-bats. “Just the frustration, he seems to be frustrated, so a little bit.”

But the long answer, and it is indeed a long one and also the first time that the Dodger skipper has given one to the media, is that he is not really all that concerned about his All-Star rookie center fielder.

“He’s working on different things. It’s not like he’s just going up there… I know he looks like he swings for the fences all the time but that’s not really what he’s trying to do,” Mattingly said. “He’s been working on trying to get inside of the ball a little bit, use his bottom hand a little more. So it’s not like he’s not trying, he’s been working on stuff.

“He’s frustrated,” Mattingly added. “At some point Joc’s going to get that front side thing and he’s going to be a monster. He’s going to be tough to get out. Right now it’s a little different than that.”

Pederson’s frustration level is to the point where he didn’t even try to run on this dropped third strike – something that Mattingly wasn’t too happy about, but certainly understands.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

Since June 1, Pederson has seen his on-base percentage drop from .380 to .355. And while a .355 OBP may be good for a five, six or seven guy, it is less than ideal for your leadoff hitter. Is Mattingly going to move the 23-year-old Palo Alto, CA native further down in the lineup because of this?

“Yeah, we’ve been talking about it a little bit but it’s obviously something we just [haven’t done].”

Is Pederson striking out more that Mattingly expected him to?

“I didn’t think he’d strikeout this much, it’s more than I want,” said Mattingly. “But again, you still see the huge upside. Everything about Joc is really… I know it’s what I like as far as his work ethic, the kind of teammate he is, and how he goes about his business and all that kind of thing. And to me when you have the talent and you work at it, you’re going to see improvement. It’s not always easy during the course of the season though.”

So for now, the monster sleeps. But hopefully it will awaken soon – before it’s too late.