BOSTON — Look, when you endure an 0-for-41 drought at the plate as someone who is quite literally designated to hit, you search high and low for answers.
“I’ve tried about everything,” Texas Rangers designated hitter Joc Pederson said with a laugh Tuesday night.
Everything, it turns out, led Pederson in a circle. On Tuesday, in the Rangers’ series opener vs. the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, Pederson gave baseball’s latest fad a shot for the second time this season when he swung a torpedo bat in his three plate appearances.
The bowling pin-shaped bats gained popularity after the New York Yankees used them to bash the Milwaukee Brewers in their first series this season. Pederson, a gear fanatic, quickly ordered a set. He swung it in one game vs. the Tampa Bay Rays on April 4, stuffed it back in his locker for a month and broke it back out to begin the road trip.
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The result?
“I’d say it’s going good,” he said.
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Pederson, whose -0.9 WAR is the second-worst in baseball according to FanGraphs, played arguably his best game this season with the torpedo bat in the Rangers’ 6-1 win Tuesday.
He drove in the game’s second run with a 109.8 mph ground-rule double in the fourth inning vs. Red Sox right-hander Lucas Giolito to score shortstop Corey Seager from second base. He hit a 106.8 mph single vs. Giolito in the first inning.
Pederson tried a Rawlings brand torpedo bat out on the Rangers’ last homestand and had a hard-hit foul ball with it. He liked how it felt and wanted to see if he could continue to generate power with it.
“Baseball is an interesting game,” Pederson said. “Sometimes the littlest things make the biggest difference and free you up and give you the mental freedom to go out there and compete with confidence.”
It was the first time this season that he’s had multiple hits, a run scored and a run driven in during one singular game and just the second time this season that he’d registered multiple exit velocities of 100-plus mph. His 0.115 win probability added for Tuesday’s game, according to Stathead, was the second-highest he’s posted this season.
“We need him,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said. “I said it, at some point, he’s not just going to help us tremendously, he’ll even carry us at times. It’s good to see him swinging the way he is.”
Pederson, who now owns a .114/.196/.182 slash line in 30 games, has been one of baseball’s worst hitters this season. He hasn’t played enough to qualify for league leaderboards, but if he did, his .378 OPS would rank dead last.
“It’s definitely a relief, and nice, to contribute to a win,” Pederson said. “I haven’t done that much this year, so that part’s been really frustrating.”
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