After breaking an 0-for-41 funk during Wednesday’s game, Pederson was able to reach twice with a single and walk Friday while driving in his first run as a member of the Rangers. There’s no denying that Pederson has been dreadful to begin 2025, but he’s been far too effective of a hitter to believe he can possibly be this bad for much longer. The positive regression is already taking place.

It’s mostly been hard grounders and routine flies from Pederson thus far, but given that his bat speed is unchanged from last year, we don’t have big concerns here yet. That said, this might not be the weekend he turns it around, given that the Rangers are set to face the Dodgers.

No surprise here. Pederson takes a seat for Monday’s series opener at Wrigley Field with Cubs lefty ace Justin Steele toeing the rubber. It’ll be Jonah Heim taking a turn at DH with Kyle Higashioka handling the catching duties.

Pederson tagged Rockies’ right-hander German Marquez for a two-run blast in the opening inning that gave the Rangers an early 2-0 edge. The 32-year-old slugger also lined out to left field and drew a walk in the contest, finishing the evening 1-for-2. He’s now hitting .250 (8-for-32) with four homers and 12 RBI in his first spring with the Rangers.