Joc Pederson's numbers may not bear it out yet, but the outfielder is having a wild season in San Francisco. He's in the 99th percentile in average exit velocity, hard-hit percentage, expected weighted on-base average, and expected slugging percentage.
On Tuesday, Pederson returned to the place that landed him a one-year, $6 million contract when the Giants played the Braves in Atlanta. In doing so, Pederson once again broke out the famous pearl necklace that became a major talking point during the Braves' unlikely World Series win last season.
“It just felt right to wear them,” Pederson said, per The Mercury News. “The whole story of why I started to wear them is because it just kind of felt right, and the Braves took it to another level, so I didn’t want to wear them until I was here.”
Why did Joc Pederson start wearing pearls?
Pederson has been evasive with regards to the origins of the pearls he wore last fall.
"I always thought they kind of looked good," he said last November on The Drew Barrymore Show. "I saw Justin Bieber and Machine Gun Kelly, I think, wear them to the ESPYs or something, and I don't know, they're on top of their style. So, I reached out to my jeweler and wanted to change things up a little bit. I think the white looks good with the jerseys, honestly. Better than the gold chain or the black. So I just went for it. Shooters shoot."
To Sports Illustrated's Stephanie Apstein, he was similarly coy.
“I just saw the pearls and I was, like, you know what? That looks cool." Pederson added he's a "bad b----."
MORE: Yankees reach 50 wins, by the numbers: How 2022 team compares to 1998 World Series winners
What is the significance of the pearls?
There are few things better in sports than an eccentricity mixing with clutch performances.
Pearls became a staple of Truist Park, with fans donning them to go to games. "Joctober" existed before Pederson played in Atlanta, but in Game 2 of the NLCS its legacy was cemented when he hit a walk-off home run against former Dodger Max Scherzer. He had multiple pinch-hit home runs in the playoffs for the Braves.
Pederson's performance was so spectacular there's even a pearl in the Braves' World Series ring from last year.
Excuse me while I go sell my house to buy one of these.
— DoctorBobble (@DoctorBobble) April 9, 2022
150 diamonds in the A, 755 total diamonds, 44 emerald cut diamonds, 18.71k gold, 11 rubys inside of the ring to show all the braves World Series home runs working lights in the ring, and a Joc pearl. pic.twitter.com/9YZv2KhjrX
The Giants notched a win Tuesday in a 12-10 shootout that saw Pederson homer to a nice reception from the Atlanta crowd.
Welcome back to Atlanta 👋
— SFGiants (@SFGiants) June 22, 2022
🌟 https://t.co/etev0TjKvU pic.twitter.com/G5ydSMIY4p
The Giants are now 38-29 this season, good for third in the NL West behind the scorching Dodgers and Padres. The Braves, meanwhile, are 5.5 games back of the consistently sturdy Mets in the NL East.
