Jason Heyward healthy, happy and meeting expectations
Jason Heyward has raised his batting average 45 points in the past month. (Winslow Townson/Getty Images)
(Updated: 10:15 p.m.)
Jason Heyward just completed a week in which he hit .522 with three homers, three doubles, nine runs, five RBIs, 26 total bases, four multi-hit games and a slugging percentage of 1.130, which sounds good even to all of those people who don’t really know what a slugging percentage is.
Do you realize that if Heyward continues at this pace, he would break, like, probably every record in baseball history, even those set by mutant chemical creations?
I bring this up because from the moment Heyward announced his arrival with the Braves and the major leagues two years ago with a first at-bat homer that traveled about 800 feet – it’s like the fish that got away: it just keeps getting bigger – expectations have been cartoon-like. People expected so much so soon. Then, predictably when Heyward struggled, was injured, then struggled some more, many started to cast him as the next Jeff Francoeur (post-Sports Illustrated version).
Whatever happened to just taking a breath?
“Sometimes when there’s labels and expectations, it’s human nature — we jump on things a little too quick,” Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said Tuesday. “We forget he’s a 22-year-old kid. We want to anoint somebody: ‘This is a guy who’s going to be the next Hank Aaron. The next Mickey Mantle.’ We have to take our time.”
This should please both realists and jacked-up-on-Red-Bull Fantasy League players: Jason Heyward is really good again.
He was just named the National League’s player of the week. He went 2-for-4 with an RBI against Arizona in Tuesday night’s 8-1 win over Arizona, raising his average to .282. He looks so confident and mechanically sound in the batter’s box that Gonzalez batted him second in the order for only the second time this season. (Heyward has hit sixth or seventh most of the season.)
Gonzalez even showed Heyward three different lineups before the game and asked him which one he liked best.
“I said, ‘Whichever one I’m in,’” Heyward said, smiling. (He was in all of them.)
Heyward has raised his average 51 points from .231 on May 30. His 11 home runs are tied with Dan Uggla for the team lead. He is third in runs batted in (36), third in total bases and second in stolen bases (10).
This is the Jason Heyward you expected, right?
This doesn’t mean he’s not going to slump the rest of the season. He will. Everybody does. But it should momentarily mute the critics who were convinced he was some overhyped prospect bound for a crash.
Heyward will tell you he has been healthy, which has allowed him to accumulate at-bats and make adjustments. Even when the batting average was down, he felt good.
“I’d get one hit, maybe a big knock in a game and I’d tell myself, ‘Just stay there. It’s gonna happen. Just keep pushing. More at-bats and it’s gonna get better,’” he said. “I just had to keep that mindset: Don’t get too frustrated, don’t get impatient.
“It’s taking an 0-fer and making it into a positive.”
This means everything for the Braves. The starting pitching remains a bit of a mystery. Chipper Jones’ health is going to be an issue all season. But if Heyward can be productive, it changes the game. He showed that last week in New York and Boston. Heyward gives them something they didn’t have enough last season, certainly not down the stretch: a real problem for opposing pitchers.
Heyward said he has focused on “just having fun.” He says he has done a pretty good job shutting out the criticism. But Jones is pretty sure the ride has been tougher than Heyward has let on.
“He’d never say it but you can’t escape it,” he said. “As much as he tries to hide his frustrations with his offensive output and his struggles, you can’t get away from it. You’re going home at night saying, ‘Can I play this game any more? Am I in over my head? What’s going on? Why am I not producing.’ As a player and a coach, you just have to harp on it with him, ‘You’ve got the world by the tail if you just get your mechanics back.’ It’s taken him a while to get it, but I dare say I think he’s got it.”
Imagine the possibilities.
Just don’t go crazy.
By Jeff Schultz
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116 comments Add your comment
Jeff Schultz
June 26th, 2012
9:22 pm
Ryder (and others) … Grienke obviously good, and he’s having a great year. But IF Milwaukee decides to move him, bidding could get pretty high. Wren’s always been resistant to giving up big prospects in past. We’ll see.
Jeff Schultz
June 26th, 2012
9:23 pm
Hudson has thrown 84 pitchers threw 7 innings. He’s due up fifth this inning.
Jeff Schultz
June 26th, 2012
9:27 pm
Chipper up: first 3 at-bats tonight: double (scored), single, walk.
Jeff Schultz
June 26th, 2012
9:30 pm
. . . and a long out.
Jeff Schultz
June 26th, 2012
9:33 pm
Good base running by Uggla. 6-1.
Jeff Schultz
June 26th, 2012
9:35 pm
Wow. Look at Fredi with a squeeze up 6-1.
Jeff Schultz
June 26th, 2012
9:37 pm
Hudson SF for run …. Braves have scored 2 runs on sac flies tonight and another on a fielder’s choice.
Hanrahan
June 26th, 2012
9:40 pm
Jeff, do you think there’s any chance at all that Chipper goes to AL to DH next season?
Jeff Schultz
June 26th, 2012
9:45 pm
No.
Jeff Schultz
June 26th, 2012
9:50 pm
Tim Hudson at exactly 100 pitches through eight innings. I think it’s Varvaro in bullpen warming up.
K-Baby
June 26th, 2012
9:50 pm
Chipper hates to DH. I believe him when he says he will retire at the end of the season.
J-Man
June 26th, 2012
10:01 pm
Hey Shultz with Brian McCann struggles and perhaps him being on the decline. Would a longterm deal like Molina from St. Louis got 6 yr 75 mil. I know Im sayng this after him gtting a RBI single. But with a stud prospect in Christian Bethncourte and the limitations on payroll the Braves seem to have, it doesnt seem prudent to have that kind of money locked up on a player on the decline.
Dan Uggla
June 26th, 2012
10:02 pm
Man, I strike out real good!
Jeff Schultz
June 26th, 2012
10:04 pm
Chipper Jones tonight: 3 hits, a walk and a long out to the wall. Average up to .289. Heyward 2-for-4 tonight. Average up to .282. Braves now with 17 hits.
Chris
June 26th, 2012
10:06 pm
but will the Braves ever win a World Series with current ownership?
Felix
June 26th, 2012
10:06 pm
Chipper, the 40 year old man with the bum knees is still the best hitter on the team.
Amazing.
Jeff Schultz
June 26th, 2012
10:06 pm
Varvaro in. So much for the complete game by Hudson.
J-Man
June 26th, 2012
10:06 pm
Guess what I want to know Schultz is if you thing giving Brian McCann a long te deal would be a smart move
J-Man
June 26th, 2012
10:08 pm
long term
Felix
June 26th, 2012
10:10 pm
Once again Huddy pitches his guts out. Nice to see the offense give him support.
Jeff Schultz
June 26th, 2012
10:12 pm
J-Man: I weighed in on McCann earlier in season. Here’s link:
http://blogs.ajc.com/jeff-schultz-blog/2012/05/15/mccann-hopes-to-rebound-contract-situation-lingering/
But do I think there’s a chance he doesn’t get the lucrative long-term deal from Braves? Yes.
Contract demands and offers from around the league will be interesting.
Dudley Dooright
June 26th, 2012
10:13 pm
Mets losing by one to Cubbies and Nats up by one against Colorado.
J-Man
June 26th, 2012
10:18 pm
Yea true Schultz its the Mid-Market “know how and where to spend” philosphy. Also catcher is like the Running back position in the NFL in that little injuries can mount up and affect good players remember Todd Hundley. I think he has peaked and now if your gonna commit that kind of money you would have to eventually move him to 1st base in order to keep his bat. And with a young Freddie Freeman obviously thats not gonna happen.
NRBQ
June 26th, 2012
10:20 pm
Fortunately for Nora, her rage at Bernstien led to becoming one of the top screen-writers of the 90’s.
Hell hath no fury…..
Dr. Kenneth Noisewater
June 26th, 2012
10:39 pm
can Uggla just hit and stop being so damn streaky!!! he’s doing the same thing he was doing last year…it’s either a HR that means nothing or a K!!!
Dr. Kenneth Noisewater
June 26th, 2012
10:41 pm
JS- with news that Liberty Media was awarded millions of dollars from settlement i read about, any chance that take that $$ and invest in the Braves?? Yes, i’m sure there will be appeals and the decision is not complete and whatnot, but hypothetically?
Chris
June 26th, 2012
10:56 pm
No they care nothing about the Braves. I think I read once their CEO makes more in a year than the entire Braves roster. They have the money to spend more, but they don’t care if the Braves actually win.
PMC
June 26th, 2012
11:46 pm
Expectations come out of necessity. If there were other outfielders when he came up on the team that were pulling their weight, he wouldn’t have caught as much flak.
People hear the hype and they want the payoff. yeah he’s 22, but we’re trying to win ball games. It’s the majors. The minor leagues exist to give guys all the patience in the world.
I like his game, I’m glad he’s healthy, but seriously, if you can’t understand why a guy who is so hyped, on a team that had next to nothing at the plate would catch flak for hitting .227…. I mean, I don’t get it. Plenty of people don’t get paid to play baseball, and they don’t catch any hell for it.
It’s AWESOME when he’s playing well, but it shouldn’t be suprising either.
PMC
June 26th, 2012
11:52 pm
Fans don’t generally get on the Pete Orr’s of the world. If you’re getting booed, it’s because generally something is going wrong. It’s just frustration. With the Braves there always seems to be more wishing and hoping than results. That’s frustrating
PMC
June 26th, 2012
11:55 pm
The best thing about Heyward is his attitude and work ethic. He didn’t let nonsense derail his dream.
Sabermetric Meister
June 27th, 2012
12:44 am
If you’re going to use and imply a certain statistic that Heyward has is impressive, then at least do your due diligence and know WTF you are talking about. It is statistically impossible to have a slugging percentage above 1.000. That statistic you meant to refer to is OPS which is on base percentage plus slugging percentage. You’d think a journalist would only be enamored by journalists who actually understand the content they write about which makes it so ironic that you seem to love your own lame jokes so much.
Ken Stallings
June 27th, 2012
12:54 am
Heyward has been on a tear lately. Frankly, I hesitate to say much positive about him because I fear it might jinx him! But, I certainly hope Heyward has found his way for good and reaches the lofty levels his talent has promised.
Ken Stallings
June 27th, 2012
12:58 am
Jeff,
Do you think Liberty Media’s huge win today against that French media company (a $950 million judgment) will allow the Braves to get even a $10 million windfall to help sign some talent for next year, such as Michael Bourn, whom the Braves need to make a priority?
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June 27th, 2012
1:50 am
[...] Jason Heyward healthy, happy and meeting expectations [...]
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June 27th, 2012
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[...] Jason Heyward healthy, happy and meeting expectations [...]
Andy
June 27th, 2012
3:55 am
Until he starts hitting with the game on the line, I am not convinced. How many times before the recent mini-streak did he strike out or ground out to the pitcher with men on base? Yankee players don’t do that.
Ted M
June 27th, 2012
4:55 am
Jeesh – Jeff Francoeur is not that bad…he had a good year last .285 w/20 hrs & 84 rbi. And he’s off to an ok star,t just a little hot streak and he’s up to .280.
Packer Ed
June 27th, 2012
5:42 am
If the Braves owner wanted to win and was willing to part with some cash, the Braves could make some mid season moves and win this thing this year.
All it takes is money and desire or desire and money.
Need to make some moves
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June 27th, 2012
7:28 am
[...] Jason Heyward healthy, happy and meeting expectations [...]
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June 27th, 2012
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[...] Jason Heyward healthy, happy and meeting expectations [...]
Dudley Dooright
June 27th, 2012
7:46 am
If Liberty Cheapia comes into any extra money, their top execs will just take it and line their pockets. After that they’ll probably start grumbling about how they need more money and then fire some people and outsource their jobs.
DePort
June 27th, 2012
8:17 am
I think its time for Uggla to take a day off and clear his head
crabbyjacket
June 27th, 2012
8:29 am
Uh, “Meister”, the maximum slugging percentage is 4.000
Come back and try again when you’re ready.
Speedy Gonezales
June 27th, 2012
8:30 am
Way to go J Hey! now re sign Bourn, get a real 3rd baseman (maybe David Wright) & trade YES trade McCann after this year , he will be a free agent & his best days are in the rear view mirror, dont give him a mega contract while he’s declining (see Chipper) let Ross catch full time. Simmons looks like a keeper at SS, leave Prado in left & take the Lowe/Chipper money & pay Bourn & sign a big time 3rd baseman, then were talking a solid lineup!!!
AllenL
June 27th, 2012
8:38 am
Hayward will be ok, you are right, people forget this guy is only 22. We tend to rush greatness, it is done that way in baseball, usually a guy that is this good, don’t make the Majors until 22 or 23. Be patient Fans, understand the game little better, study the game’s history, only 8 to 10 great ball players have made it at Jason’s age.
Milburn Drysdale
June 27th, 2012
9:06 am
Seems like only a week ago everyone was on the blogs calling for Heyward to either be traded or sent to Gwinnett. Glad they are not the manager or GM. And, I agree that Uggla needs a few days off. He may be the only all-star on the team, so he needs it anyway.
Gene
June 27th, 2012
9:12 am
After Heyward was criticized for lollygagging earlier this season, he apologized and reacted by leaping after homeruns and throwing Tex out at home plate.
Kirk
June 27th, 2012
9:32 am
Jeff, there sure is a lot of drivel written in your blog by your fans. They should use the Chipper Lowe $$ to sign Bourne and Prado and Hansen to long term deals and not resign McCann. Let Ross guide Betancourt. We do need a right handed bat tho for third base… Who would you go after… Or would you go with Prado there and find a right handed slugger for left field?
blue
June 27th, 2012
9:34 am
Jeff; I’m not 100% sure, but was Heyward’s first at bat in his career a home run? I thought it was in his first game, but didn’t think it was his first AB?
cliff
June 27th, 2012
9:35 am
“…, he would break, like, probably every record in baseball history, even those set by mutant chemical creations?” Jeff, PLEASE don’t encourge the use of the word “like” when it’s completely unneccessary! It’s driving me nuts.
Yesterday, my teenager told me he felt “like bad”!