As Scott White notes in the video above, Dodgers manager Don Mattingly finally wised up and put Joc Pederson in the leadoff spot, taking advantage of his incredible on-base skills. Sure, it took injuries Yasiel Puig and Carl Crawford, the team's primary No. 2 hitters, before he would make the switch, but you can't exactly blame Mattingly for his hesitance.

For all of Pederson's minor-league production and accolades, he still entered the season entirely unproven. Giving him a few weeks to get his feet wet and prove he belongs isn't the worst thing in the world, and Pederson has certainly earned his spot at the top of the order. His ability to sustain this strong play is going to dictate whether he remains in the lineup and at the top, but that isn't a question for me; I'm all-in on Pederson.  

This might not exactly be a bold take, given that Pederson entered the season as Baseball America's No. 8 prospect and the center fielder for one of baseball's best teams. However, let's not forget that even Mike Trout flamed out unceremoniously in his first stint in the majors. Success at the highest level is never a given, but I think Pederson's success is about as real as possible.

For one, his command of the strike zone is impeccable. Sure, he struck out 149 times in 121 games at Triple-A last season, which is a whole lot. However, he was also one of the youngest players in his league, and a high strikeout total is sometimes the price you pay for knowing how and being willing to work a count. Pederson has that down, with an 18.1 percent walk rate that represents a steady improvement from the 13.5 percent make he posted in 2013.

Pederson has always walked a lot, as he entered organized professional baseball with an 11.6 percent walk rate as a 19-year-old. His presence at the No. 8 spot might helping to grease the wheels, but he has hit the ground walking in the majors, with a 22.6 percent walk rate over 115 plate appearances including last season. Maybe he won't keep walking in one-fifth of his at-bats at the top of the order, but Pederson is patient, recognizes bad pitches and knows how to lay off them.

Of course, all of that wouldn't mean anything if he couldn't do anything with the good pitches he is getting. And, though he does have quite a bit of swing-and-miss in his game (he ranks 178th out of 184 qualified batters in contact percentage, per FanGraphs.com's leaderboard), he hits them hard when he does make contact.

In fact, he has quite a bit in common with the rest of the low-contact hitters. Though names like George Springer, Chris Carter and Giancarlo Stanton represent the wide range of possible outcomes he could be looking at with such holes in his swing, the one thing they all have in common is, when they don't miss the ball, they really don't miss it. So far with Pederson, that has been the case as well. 

Pederson ranks seventh in the majors in hard-hit percentage, per FanGraphs, right behind Stanton.  Additionally, he ranks second among all hitters with at least 20 at-bats tracked by the StatCast system in average batted-ball velocity, right behind Hanley Ramirez, according to BaseballSavant.com. He also hits the ball further than anyone in baseball on average, a sign that the power that carried him in the minors is showing up here as well.

Even with how hard he hits it, Pederson isn't going to be a high-average hitter. He is sitting at .298 right now, but strikes out too often and hits the ball in the air too often to sustain much more than .250 average.

However, the bat speed, pitch recognition and plate discipline have translated beautifully, and it's probably only a matter of time before he starts to live up to his 30-steal potential as well. Pederson probably isn't going to be a superstar all year long, but his ceiling this season is higher than most 23-year-olds.

If the Dodgers leave him at the top of their order long-term, 90 runs, 20 homers, 20 steals and a .380 on-base percentage aren't out of the question. That would make that .250 average a lot easier to stomach.