CHICAGO -- Better consistency was Joc Pederson's goal this spring, and roughly one-third through the season, the returns have been promising.

Consider his offseason plan a significant sign of maturity, and the first step in utilizing the lessons he learned in his rookie season in 2015.

Pederson has become a somewhat different hitter in 2016. The early home run barrage from last year is way down, but so are his strikeouts.

There are two general ideas when it comes to Pederson. The primary one is that he one day turns the type of numbers he had during the first two months last season into a full season of monster production. But first things first.

Pederson needs to work on simply avoiding the massive peak and extended valley he experienced last year before he needs to start working on a six-month schedule of All-Star-caliber numbers.

Pederson seemed to understand that, first and foremost, when he started to seek out coaches this winter to help him with his plate approach.

"It's part of being consistent," Pederson said. "We have great new hitting coaches here and the hitting coaches I talked to in the offseason, like Johnny Washington and Shawn Wooten, who helped me make some offseason adjustments and getting me into a better place."

Washington has since left the organization, but he had been instrumental with Pederson's growth at the minor-league level. Wooten is still just a phone call away at Triple-A Oklahoma City.

With him every day now is Turner Ward, one of those new coaches getting an extended look at Pederson. Ward wasn't with the Dodgers last year, but he knows all about that boom-bust season. He just elects not to emphasize it, even if it motivates the work the two are doing now.

"It's not all about last year," Ward said. "It's all about moving forward. Every one of these guys is looking to get better. If they're hitting .320, they want to hit .330; if it's .330 they want to hit .340. That's the great thing about this job. At this level, everybody is looking to get better and try to improve."

But wanting and doing are completely different concepts. And even though Ward has rolled up his sleeves while getting down to hard work with Pederson, he gives the player all of the credit.

"I think it was a conscious effort on his part," Ward said of Pederson's commitment to consistency. "He had told me in the offseason he kind of got away from his approach. That tells you he was trying to do too much. I think it's solidifying what he wants to do at the plate, how he wants to go about things at the plate, and it's paying off for him."

At the very least, it has given him a base from which to move forward. In the second half last year, he did not seem to have that and his struggles only intensified. Pederson went from 20 home runs and a .487 slugging percentage in the first half to six home runs while slugging .300 in the second.

But changing Pederson's ways wasn't a complete rebuilding project for the Dodgers. In fact, it was quite the opposite. The Dodgers were cognizant of maintaining the elements that make Pederson such a dynamic hitter, electing to refine the subtle parts of his hitting game.

Among the drills Pederson now does is playing the old game of pepper before games with the coaching staff. About four coaches line up about 30 feet away from Pederson and lob baseballs into his hitting zone.

Pederson hits the ball back and the next coach sends the ball back to a different part of Pederson's zone as quickly as they receive it. It's a basic drill designed to help Pederson's hand-eye coordination.

"Yeah, it's part of my routine and watching the ball hit the barrel, working on my hand path and just enjoying being at the field and having a good time with it," Pederson said.

Pederson has an .804 OPS through 50 games this season, an improvement from his .763 in 2015. AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin

It has been more than just a fun way to pass the time. Ward says he has seen the benefits.

"[Manager Dave Roberts] kind of came up with that idea to play pepper, just to keep things simple," Ward said. "I thought, 'Man, that's a great idea.' That's something that we grew up doing from a minor-league standpoint and was a part of preparations. I thought it was a great suggestion. I think he has taking ownership of it and it has been a great help."

In fact, Pederson put a time limit on a recent interview because he had to partake in his most recent game of pepper.

"There will be highs and lows, but to keep him in the middle [is the objective]," Roberts said. "Players talk about consistency. He has worked with Turner and the hitting coaches on a routine. Joc has really grown up. I say this in the best possible way: He's a talented young player, but some of the things he's doing on the field and in the clubhouse and with routine, I'm just happy to see that he’s seeing fruits."

At 24, Pederson still is young, yet he isn't afraid to reach out to veterans such as Chase Utley and Adrian Gonzalez for advice.

Roberts can talk about Pederson's progress all he wants, but the proof of positives are visible in the lineup itself. Pederson has batted 12 times in the No. 8 spot of the order and eight times in the No. 7 spot, mostly early in the year. Consistency and better at-bats have helped to move him forward.

He has batted sixth 17 times and fifth four times. And he has even batted cleanup twice, although the most telling sign of all in Roberts' trust of Pederson is that the most recent cleanup appearance came Tuesday at Wrigley Field against Cubs ace Jake Arrieta.

"I think his at-bats have been more consistent for me; they're more competitive," Roberts said. "Whatever the average is now, I think he's hitting balls hard, squaring them up and the quality of contact, the quality of at-bat for me has been consistent. For me, as a manager when I write the lineup, I want to know what I'm going to get, and I think that to have an opportunity to hit somebody higher in the order, I have to trust the at-bats. I think he is giving them to me."