In one of the last games of the season, Joc Pederson gave the Los Angeles Dodgers an early lead by opening a game against the San Francisco Giants with a home run. The leadoff homer was his eighth this season, which set a new Dodgers franchise record.
The previous record of seven was set by Davey Lopes in 1979. There were a lot of question marks surrounding Pederson going into the 2018 season as he looked to be the odd man out in the Dodgers outfield after a subpar Spring Training.
He also got off to a slow start in the regular season, but really came on after the month of April and earned the team’s leadoff role against right-handed pitching.