Cubs' Pederson gets his chance against left-handed starter
The Cubs got their first look at a left-handed starter in the regular season Saturday with Pittsburgh starting Tyler Anderson.
And as promised, Joc Pederson was in the lineup. A platoon player with the Dodgers, the Cubs offered him a chance to be more of an everyday outfielder.
Before the game, Pederson talked about tweaking his batting stance over the winter, which happened as much by circumstance as design.
"What really happened was the hitting coach I normally hit with took a job overseas," Pederson said. "So I couldn't really hit with him. So I started hitting with a new guy, and learning about different philosophies and using the past knowledge I had and some of the experience and realizing what could make me more successful at a big league level and better consistent at-bat.
"I liked where things were headed and the improvements that were made. It's cool that in spring training, I got to see some results based on that, because it doesn't always work like that."
Pederson had a great spring, hitting .378 and leading the majors with 8 home runs. He's still looking for his first hit of the regular season after going 0-for-4 with 3 strikeouts on Saturday. He did have a sacrifice fly in the opener.
As far as getting better at hitting lefties, Pederson said it's something he never really worked on during seven seasons with the Dodgers.
"I never really put too much time into working on lefties because I kind of had a role set with the Dodgers and I accepted it and wanted to be the best I could at hitting righties," he said. "So this offseason really worked on that and creating a little bit better angle to the ball and stuff like that. I felt good in spring training and am excited to get more at-bats."
Over his full career, Pederson has hit .191 in 386 plate appearances against left-handers. He's hit 121 of his 130 career home runs against righties.
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