House That Hank Built
Fansided

Should the Atlanta Braves attempt to trade for Joc Pederson?

By Steven Teal

WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 07: Joc Pederson #31 of the Los Angeles Dodgers flies out in the first inning against the Washington Nationals in game four of the National League Division Series at Nationals Park on October 07, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 07: Joc Pederson #31 of the Los Angeles Dodgers flies out in the first inning against the Washington Nationals in game four of the National League Division Series at Nationals Park on October 07, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 3
Next
(Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)
(Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images) /

How is he compared to Markakis and Duvall?

Now we must consider how Joc stacks up compared to Atlanta’s current left-field options, Nick Markakis and Adam Duvall.

It’s mostly believed that the Braves will use a platoon of Duvall and Markakis for the 2020 season.

Duvall and Markakis would work in a platoon as they play good defense and decent offensive production. How would the time be split between the two?

Well, if you look at their batting splits for 2019, you’ll see that Duvall is better against left-handed pitching and Markakis has more luck against right-handers.

Here are their complete splits for 2019:

  • Duvall:
    • vs. RHP: 86 PA, .235/.279/.481, 6 HR, 11 RBI, .761 OPS
    • vs. LHP: 44 PA, .333/.386/.744, 4 HR, 8 RBI, 1.130 OPS
  • Markakis: 
    • vs. RHP: 356 PA, .298/.371/.446, 9 HR, 46 RBI, .816 OPS
    • vs. LHP: 113 PA, .245/.310/.343, 0 HR, 16 RBI, .653 OPS

While that would be good enough to get the job done, it’s not a bad idea for Atlanta to consider other options. Here are the 2019 splits for Joc Pederson:

  • vs. RHP: 464 PA, .252/.349/.533, 36 HR, 73 RBI, .920 OPS
  • vs. LHP: 50 PA, .224/.240/.265, 0 HR, 1 RBI, .505 OPS

As you can see, Pederson didn’t have a lot of success against left-handed pitching but he did extremely well against right-handers.

Next, I’ll break down how all 3 players stacked up through 2019 in the offensive categories of batting average on balls in play (BABIP), weighted on-base average (wOBA), isolated power (ISO), and walk to strikeout ratio (BB/K).

  • Pederson: .249 BABIP, .377 wOBA, .289 ISO, 0.45 BB/K
  • Markakis: .310 BABIP, .342 wOBA, .135 ISO, 0.80 BB/K
  • Duvall: .306 BABIP, .378 wOBA, .300 ISO, 0.18 BB/K

While you’d hope Pederson was a more well-rounded hitter, it’s hard to argue against power numbers like he produced last season. It would definitely be a benefit to Atlanta to have him on the team if they had to go the trade route to fill their needs.

It’s also clear that if Duvall and Markakis perform at similar levels as they did in 2019, the platoon wouldn’t be too bad of a deal. However, that’s predicated upon each player performing at the same level which we know very well may not happen.

Next. Braves interested in Rendon?. dark

Whether this trade comes to fruition or not, it’s always worth considering the value it could bring to the club.

Now, I didn’t propose a trade package because I want to hear your ideas in the comment section. What trade package would make the most sense if you were to in the position to propose it?

Home/Braves News