Joc Pederson Wife, Brother, Girlfriend, Salary, Biography

Quick Facts

Joc Pederson is a professional baseball player who plays in the Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Los Angeles Dodgers as an outfielder. He made the MLB draft in 2010, but it was until 2014 that he made his debut in the major league and then in 2015, he made the All-Star. Even though he is yet to spend many years in the major league, he has already become an important part of the Dodgers.

Joc Pederson Biography

The Dodgers outfielder was born Joc Russell Pederson on April 21, 1992, in Palo Alto, California. Of Jewish descent, he was born into an athletic family to a father who played professional baseball and a mother who was once an athletic trainer. Thanks to that, he got to start very early with the help of his father, Stud Pederson, his brother. as well as his mother, Shelley Pederson. He went to Palo Alto High School where he played baseball for the school team. The Dodgers for which his father had played in 1985 before switching to coaching made him their pick in the 11th round of the 2010 Major League Baseball Draft

Before the draft, he had his mind on going to the University of Southern California just like his father. However, he went on to sign a deal with $600 thousand bonus which was the second highest any player who was selected after the fifth round by Dodgers had ever gotten.

He played in the Pioneer League for the Ogden Raptors where he made the Rookie League All-Star and Topps Short-Season/Rookie League All-Star. He then got the deserved promotion to the class-A (Advanced) Rancho Cucamonga Quakes of the California League where he also did well for himself, so much that he was selected as the Minor League Player of the Year for Dodgers.

Next, Joc found himself playing for the Mesa Solar Sox in the Arizona Fall League and the Chattanooga Lookouts in the Southern League. He would later play for the Cardenales de Lara in the Venezuelan Winter League.

He continued in the minor league until 2014 when he got called by the Dodgers to the Major League. He made his debut in a loss against the Washington Nationals. From then on, he would keep playing for the team with which he made the All-Star in 2015.

Interestingly, being of Jewish descent, the outfielder has played in the World Baseball Classic games for Team Israel.

Brother, Wife, And Girlfriend

Joc Pederson was raised alongside two older brothers and a younger sister. His eldest brother, Champ Pederson, who was born with a down syndrome also found himself around baseball where he gives team speeches and has become a strong motivation to both his brothers and many others. According to Shelley, all her other children have reached the heights they are now thanks to Champ.

Joc also has another brother, Tyger Pederson who also played baseball. After having a great college career at the University of Pacific before he got drafted by the Dodgers in 2013, he went on to play in the minor league for the Arizona League Dodgers, Rockford Aviators, San Rafael Pacifics, and Vallejo Admirals. Tyger now works as a head coach for the Duluth Huskies. His sister, Jacey Pederson is a soccer player.

In 2018, Pederson got married to Kelsey Williams who had been his girlfriend for a long time. The couple got engaged in 2017 before finally deciding to tie the knot a year later in Glendale, California.

Just like other members of his family, his wife is also into athletics. Kelsey Williams played both high school and college volleyball at the Amador Valley High School and Duke University where she studied Psychology. She gave birth to the couple’s first child, Poppy Jett Pederson in October 2018.

Salary

Pederson has come a long way thus far in the MLB. In 2018, he signed a $2.6 million contract with the Dodgers which is expected to keep him with the team for another year. With the contract signed in January 2018, the Dodgers avoided a salary arbitration hearing. Since it’s a one year deal, it means he will be taking home $2 million as his salary for 2018. This is a significant rise from the $555 thousand that he made in 2017.

Also Read: Top 10 Richest People in the world with full biography and details.