Joc wants to 'soak it in' at 2nd All-Star Game

Joc Pederson admits that he didn’t enjoy his first All-Star experience as much as he could have.

Pederson earned a spot on the National League team as a 23-year-old rookie for the Dodgers in 2015, but he fell into a bad slump in the weeks leading up to the All-Star break and felt too consumed by the results to fully appreciate the festivities.

“I think that’s part of learning the ups and downs,” Pederson said. “I remember in '15, I was really struggling when I went to the All-Star Game like the two weeks prior. I didn’t soak it in as much as I could have.”

• MLB All-Star Game presented by Mastercard: Tuesday on FOX

Now in his ninth season, Pederson is an All-Star for the second time with his hometown Giants, though he’ll return to Los Angeles, the site of the 2022 Midsummer Classic, with a different perspective. Earlier in his career, his priorities were sleep and baseball. But as he’s gotten older, he’s learned to embrace everything else the sport has to offer, from the ability to travel and explore different cities to the chance to mingle with some of the biggest stars in the game.

“To be on the field with so many superstars and watching them go about their business will be really fun,” Pederson said. “Hopefully I’ll learn a lot. Last time I was an All-Star, everything was moving so fast. It’ll be cool to really soak in all of the moments that I missed. Especially being in L.A., I’m super familiar with obviously everything there. I’m really looking forward to the whole experience.”

Pederson was voted in as a starting outfielder for the NL and will represent the Giants at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday alongside left-hander Carlos Rodón, who was added as a replacement for Brewers reliever Josh Hader. The two have emerged as arguably the Giants’ best players since joining the club as free agents this offseason, though Pederson’s one-year, $6 million deal is looking particularly shrewd.

The 29-year-old lefty slugger leads San Francisco with 17 home runs and an .848 OPS over 79 games this year and has brought a championship pedigree to the clubhouse after winning back-to-back World Series titles with the Dodgers and Braves.

“He just is a winner,” third baseman Evan Longoria said. “He’s a guy who has been in a lot of clubhouses and knows how to win. For whatever reason, you get guys like that in the clubhouse and they kind of have this ability to spur guys along and just bring this culture of belief in. I think that’s what he does really well. Every day he believes that we’re going to win and believes that he’s going to be able to do something to contribute to the win. Those two things are kind of invaluable to a clubhouse.”

The Giants, who are known for their platoon systems, have tried to put Pederson in the best positions to succeed by limiting his exposure to left-handed pitching, a role he’s accepted now that he’s more at peace with himself.

“I think the biggest thing I’ve seen from Joc is just really settling into who his true self is,” said left-hander Alex Wood, who also played with Pederson on the Dodgers. “He’s not really worried about what anybody else thinks about him, from the people he works for to the people he plays with. He’s just unequivocally himself all the time. It’s something I think a lot of people wish they could be more like. I really admire that about him.”

Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi, who was a first-year general manager with the Dodgers during Pederson’s rookie season, said he’s enjoyed watching the former Palo Alto High School standout mature and develop into a “student of the game” over the years.

“It’s pretty cool for him to come home and to be playing this well,” Zaidi said. “He’s a very deserving All-Star selection. I’ve sort of seen him go through a lot in his career, the highs, the lows. He’s just a really resilient player and person. On a personal level, it’s really nice to see him rewarded. He’ll be a fun character to have at the festivities in L.A. He won’t go unnoticed there, so it’ll be fun tracking his antics.”

Pederson’s antics won’t include another Home Run Derby appearance, as he turned down an invitation to participate in the event due to some minor neck and back issues. Pederson finished runner-up to Todd Frazier in 2015 and then lost an epic semifinal battle to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in 2019, so he knows the type of toll the slugfest can take on the body.

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“You can’t move for about a good 24 to 48 hours,” Pederson said. “You’re hurting a lot. But it definitely is one of the funner things to do in baseball. Hopefully I’ll get to participate in it again one time. I just wanted to use this time to soak up the experience with my family and recover to finish strong and put myself in the best position to help this team get to the playoffs and win another World Series.”