Why Jason Heyward (baseball) isn’t Jeff Francoeur (football)
Jason Heyward rounds third after his Opening Day homer. (AJC photo by Phil Skinner)
Both were first-round draft picks from the Atlanta suburbs, both right fielders. Both hit home runs in their first big-league games, each against the Cubs. Both were given the Sports Illustrated treatment in the early days of their rookie seasons. But if you ask in the Braves’ clubhouse about further similarities between Jeff Francoeur and Jason Heyward, you won’t find many.
What you’ll hear instead is an admission of a key difference: That one was a football player, while the other is a baseball player.
The intent isn’t to belittle Francoeur, who had three good-to-excellent seasons as a Brave. He hit .300 as a rookie in 2005 and drove in more than 100 runs in 2006 and 2007. But when his early blush of success faded, it spawned a full-blown backlash fueled by a fundamental flaw: Francoeur swung at everything, and when in doubt he swung harder.
That was the football player in him. (Again, we must stipulate: Francoeur was a great high school football player.) A football player believes nothing can’t be fixed by sheer effort. It’s one of the reasons that oft-cited criticism of the Braves in postseason — that they weren’t “emotional enough” — was such a canard. Untrammeled emotion in baseball doesn’t make you Joe DiMaggio; it makes you an easy out.
Baseball is a game of skill and precision, not strength and mass. It’s noteworthy that Heyward, who grew up in a football state, never played the sport. (According to Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports, Heyward’s dad wouldn’t let him.) And here we come to the fundamental difference between the two: Francoeur, who’s a bright guy, always seemed to fall back on raw talent no matter how many coaches he consulted, while Heyward has fused a happier amalgam of ability and analysis.
Jeff Francoeur belts his debut homer. (AP photo)
I saw Francoeur in a playoff doubleheader at Parkview High. He swung at the first pitch five times. He went 1-for-7, the hit being a home run. We contrast this with Heyward, who while playing for Henry County High often left scouts disappointed because he walked too much. In his SI story, Tom Verducci quotes an unnamed Cleveland official — the Indians owned the 13th pick in the 2007 draft, one ahead of the Braves — as saying, “We didn’t see him swing the bat enough to feel comfortable taking him that high.”
It took Francoeur 128 big-league plate appearances to draw a walk; it took Heyward 16. In 70 games as a rookie, Francoeur walked 11 times; in 40 games, Heyward has walked 25 times. One was all exuberance (sometimes irrational); the other is patience personified.
As John Perrotto noted in Baseball Prospectus, when Heyward hit .103 over from Games 11 through 20 the Braves advised him “to be more aggressive early in the count and consider swinging at more first pitches.“ This from the same voices — Bobby Cox and Terry Pendleton — who could never convince Francoeur not to swing so early and so often.
Which only goes to show: A manager or a coach can talk until the cows come home, but it’s difficult for a player to change who he is. Yogi Berra swung at lousy pitches but was good enough to hit them. Ted Williams never had a 200-hit season — Ichiro Suzuki has never not had a 200-hit season — because he refused to swing at anything that wasn’t a strike. (Rule No. 1 in Williams’ “The Science of Hitting”: “Get a good pitch to hit.”)
What worked for Francoeur worked well enough for Sports Illustrated to dub him “The Natural,” but then it stopped working. He’s hitting .219 for the Mets, and his on-base percentage is a lamentable .278. As the ballpark bromide goes: Talent can get you to the majors, but talent alone won’t keep you there. You have to keep adjusting, keep thinking.
As well as Heyward plays the game, he thinks it even better. Last month he walked by Pendleton en route to the batting cage, and the hitting coach asked if, seeing as how Colorado lefthander was that day’s starter, Heyward would like a lefthander to throw to him. “No,” he said. “The last time I hit against a lefty [in BP], I went 0-for-3.”
Five hours later, Jason Heyward came to bat with two out in the ninth inning. He took the first four pitches. Then he won the game with an opposite-field single. Jeff Francoeur might well have won the same game — he had some big hits, let’s remember — but he wouldn’t have won it the same way.
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217 comments Add your comment
Dr. Warren
May 26th, 2010
1:23 pm
Knox Culpepper played several years ahead of me at my high school, Lovett, then went on to UGA, where he made all-american. He was a monster in high school. Couldn’t cut it with the Giants in training camp, and that was it. Didn’t know Francouer was that good at football, MB. The way you describe his personality and talent, he sounds like Tebow type. Is that apt or overstating it? At what position would he have fit in in the NFL?
Bud Kilmer
May 26th, 2010
1:25 pm
fyi, Jon Moxon hit Charlie Tweeter who flipped the ball to big Billy Bob who ran it in for a touchdown to win me my 23rd district title.
Go Pack!
CW
May 26th, 2010
1:26 pm
MOST HOPEFUL THING IN THIS ARTICLE: Heyward choosing not to take advice from Pendleton.
Nacho Daddy
May 26th, 2010
1:27 pm
Good thing the Indians didn’t draft Hayward, he would soon be a Yankee or Red Sox player.
Cracker Jacket
May 26th, 2010
1:27 pm
Dumb trade to give away Frenchy! The current roster is full of low average hitters this season and nothing is made of the fact! I’m afraid that TP could ruin Heyward!
Joe Stanislau
May 26th, 2010
1:28 pm
To compare Francoeur to Heyward is simple: they play rightfield, they are Atlanta Pipeline athletes, they can hit for power, and they have really great arms in the outfield.
Heyward is a great 5-tool player: hits for power, average, fields, throws, and runs with high skill results. J-Hey is a “blue-moon” talent that will and must be held in Atlanta for his career. The scout(s), and Front Office Executives should feel very smart about drafting a non-pitcher in the 1st round from 2007 and use it in 2010 because we already have an abundance of pitching.
To name several guys on hand in the minors: Julio Teheran, Christhian Betancourt, Craig Kimbrel, Mike Minor, Cory Gearrin, Arodys Vizcaino, and Mike Dunn who are going to be long-term players in Atlanta. As a GM I think the Braves should draft another 3B after signing Edward Salcedo during spring training but Zach Cox (Arkansas) or Jedd Gyorko (West Virginia) would be the 1st round pick I would select as Frank Wren.
scottinkennesaw
May 26th, 2010
1:28 pm
I watched francouer mop up my highschool time and again in both sports he most certainly was one of the most dominating players of the decade in both sports. Ive met him before and I agree he is a very nice guy and fairly bright as well, but his time in Atlanta was done. He no doubt felt pressure to be the hero of Atlanta and just couldn’t do it. I for one hope he turns it around in New York and has a heck of a season…just not against the Braves.
GTSteve
May 26th, 2010
1:29 pm
Does anybody know if the club level seats down the right field side are in the sun or the shade on afternoon games (1:30 pm start). Something in the area of 319-325.
lmno
May 26th, 2010
1:30 pm
Heyward is great now. However, anyone can lose the ability to hit the ball at anytime. Just ask Andruw, or for that matter Chipper.
Brian from SC
May 26th, 2010
1:32 pm
Chipper has hit into just 4 double plays this season, the same number as Prado, and fewer than everyone’s favorite backup, Omar Infante. The one last night was his first one in over 3 weeks.
He’s also hitting .321 with RISP this season.
I agree he’s having a down year, but some of the things people are saying about him are just not true. It is not true that he’s been some kind of DP machine, and it is not true that he has performed poorly in RBI situations.
frank james
May 26th, 2010
1:35 pm
I’m not sure how much Francouer can take advice. I am pulling for him big time because I think he is a good guy and good for the game. He just needs to look at film when he is successful and when he isn’t successful. I’m not hitting coach but with his big swing he has got to load and keep his from hip in. When he does that he is very dangerous.
Andy
May 26th, 2010
1:38 pm
Frenchy could make far more money playing baseball than he could playing football. The contracts are far more lucrative and they are all guaranteed unlike in the NFL where you can be cut at any moment unless you specfically have guaranteed money in your contract. Not even mentioning that you can have a far longer career in baseball than in football. If a guy is a great football prospect and only a very good baseball prospect, they will almost always choose baseball.
Sonny Clusters
May 26th, 2010
1:40 pm
We was reading this in disbelief. When we was first drafted they promised us commercials and fame. We got ahold of Delta as our sponsor and we was able to fly places and sit in first class. Soon, though, we was unable to make contact with the baseball and we was dropped by Delta like a hot potato on a transatlantic flight. We was stunned! Why would they just drop us like that? Well. we wanted to get on with Air Tran Airways and they was all set with Mike Vick. It seems like everybody should wait a little while before giving Heyward an airline commercial. We was wondering what would happen if he decided to represent somebody like American Airlines or maybe British Airways? Wouldn’t that take the cake? Flying ballplayers around is high risk because they may do some irresponsible things on an airplane. We would think Heyward might be better behaved than you-know-who though because being on the Braves is far better than being on the Mets.
Roy Hobbs
May 26th, 2010
1:42 pm
Nice story. I wish things had worked out better for Jeff, both here and in NY. I still hope he can turn things around.
Big things in Heywards future.
Kentavo
May 26th, 2010
1:45 pm
What about Hines Ward????
collegeballfan
May 26th, 2010
1:50 pm
Mark Bradley
“He’s the best high school football player I’ve seen since I’ve lived in Georgia, Howard. And I moved here in 1984.”
Francoeur is the best high school football player I have seen since in entered high school – way back in 1956.
ScoreKeeper
May 26th, 2010
1:51 pm
Here’s a story in the Wall Street Journal recently that talks about Frenchy and football:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703691804575254462552248910.html
frank james
May 26th, 2010
1:52 pm
Just goes to show you that Ted Williams was right. It takes a special athlete to hit a 94 or 95 mph fastball and then maybe have to hit an 82 mph breaking ball. Even the great Michael Jordan couldn’t do it. Goes to show just how good Bo Jackson and Deion Sanders were.
frank james
May 26th, 2010
1:53 pm
Herschel Walker is the greatest High School football player the state of Ga. may ever have.
Brave's Lifer
May 26th, 2010
1:54 pm
Yes Frenchy struggled here…but as a big time Braves fan (and a fan of an MLB era that no longer exists), there were a magical couple of years here in ATL where it really seemed like we had a “home-town” team. There were a bunch of literal kids who grew up playing on the same sand lots, rooted and dreamed of playing for the Braves together and came up as Braves through the system. McCann, Frenchy, Davies, James, McBride and several others, plus some local vetrans like Hudson and long time adoptees like Smotlz and Jones — made it seem like a real home team vs. a group of free agent mercenaries who happen to get their pay check from working at the Ted. Probably just an illusion — but it was fun to watch and darn difficult to find.
Ralph
May 26th, 2010
1:59 pm
Mark you wouldn’t have written these things about Francour three years ago and you might be writing the same things about Heward three years from now.
tom
May 26th, 2010
2:00 pm
My son played against Heyward when each was 14 yo. The Kid had TEN tools back then….!
frank james
May 26th, 2010
2:01 pm
Scout Rob English, now with the Red Sox, did a great job of getting the Braves these guys. One of the best scouts in baseball.
Herschel Talker
May 26th, 2010
2:03 pm
Frenchy is a turd
Chuck
May 26th, 2010
2:08 pm
After watching him quite a bit the last few years, I’ve reached this conclusion. He is at best, a very average fastball hitter. For someone who is basically a dead pull hitter, most of his foul balls are hit to the extreme right side of foul territory. He can’t catch up to a mid 90’s fastball or better. When you add the fact that he’s stubborn and not very coachable, it makes him an average at best and mediocre at worst player. He has gone back to his old habits of trying to pull everything and he can’t touch an outside fastball because of it. Last week, he missed by 6″ or less of getting hit in the face by a pitch. I was alarmed by his slow reaction in getting out of the way of the pitch. I don’t think he picks the ball up very well and that contributes to fastballs being thrown by him.
myra
May 26th, 2010
2:17 pm
Id rather have Frenchy than Melky/Diaz/Nate any day.
Steve
May 26th, 2010
2:19 pm
gobraves: Your the idiot! Why don’t you do a little researching before running your pie hole! Franceour was a WR and Safety in Highschool. He play both ways kind of like you!!!!!
Mr. Turnip-Green Jeans
May 26th, 2010
2:20 pm
Frenchy sux.
Next.
TPic
May 26th, 2010
2:21 pm
Not sure why the subject of former Braves players is supposed to generate so much interest, but what the hell – I’ll play. Here are the distinctions:
Francouer is right-handed; Heyward is a lefty.
Francoeur and Heyward can both hit lefties, but only Heyward can handle righthanders.
Francoeur has a strong arm and no speed; Heyward has no arm and lots of speed.
Francoeur is mechanical and awkward in his movements; Heyward is smooth and agile.
Francoeur expected to play right field; Heyward earned the job in right field.
Francoeur is an 8th place hitter on a bad team; Heyward should be the #3 hitter on a bad team.
Francoeur has proven to be a platoon player; Heyward is on a course for stardom.
There is no such thing as a ‘football mentality’. I’m not even sure what that is supposed to mean. Either you burn to win or you don’t. There is however an item called mental toughness, which is sorely lacking (among other things) from the Francoeur stable of traits. Notably, those would be humility, coachability, and personal accountability.
TPic
May 26th, 2010
2:23 pm
…..and baseball talent.
Mathman
May 26th, 2010
2:23 pm
Here’s hoping that in this year’s MLB draft, the Braves get some other black baseball players. Braves get #35, #53, #70, and #101. It is a crying shame that we don’t get the Orioles first rounder for Gonzalez and gave up our own first rounder for an old and retiring Wagner. It is also a shame that Wrenn didn’t offer arbitration to Soriano and thus get extra picks for him.
In any event, we need the best available collegiate hitter who plays 3B or OF with the #35 sandwich pick. We have 4 of the top pitching prospects in the game, 1 at AA and the other 3 at A ball, so hitters and athletes are badly needed.
Hopefully, someone like Jedd Gyorko of West Va or maybe Derek Dietrich of GA Tech with the #35 pick. Hopefully, someone like Delino Deshields of Woodward Academy with the #53 pick or Ryan Lamarre of Michigan. With the #70 pick, maybe the Braves can get Garin Cecchini of Lake Charles LA Barbre; and with #101 maybe athlete Chevez Clarke of Marietta GA.
We defintely need a 3B, a SS, and 2 OF’s. If Shaffer makes it back, great. If not, we need to hit the FA market or draft. We don’t need Wrenn trading our minor league talent away for a rental as his boss did with the Rangers. Andrus and the reliever would look good now as Braves.
KK and Lowe and Chipper are killing us with payroll. Chipper will likely retire. That still leaves KK 8 mil and Lowe 15 mil for 2 more years. What a fool Wrenn was and is. Our only hope is that one or both develop arm problems and insurance pays.
Mr. Turnip-Green Jeans
May 26th, 2010
2:26 pm
When a player openly admits that he quit on his team and teammates, I lose all respect. That’s exactly what Stenchy did.
OedipusTax
May 26th, 2010
2:28 pm
I so much wanted Francoeur to succeed in Atlanta. Parkview High School is right down the street, and I followed him throughout his brilliant high school career on both football and baseball. I’m rooting for him to succeed with the Mets, and I still check the Mets box score prior to the Braves now that he’s there. However, Francoeur’s strike zone has been about the size of an average gymnasium wall. Thank heavens that when the pitcher throws to first base, Francoeur’s swings then don’t count as strikes. Could it have been when he fouled that bunt off of his face, he splattered his eye sight as well as his brains? It’s so sad. Please, Jeff, please, learn the strike zone, and become the player we thought you could be all along. ,
DHD
May 26th, 2010
2:28 pm
Here it is…right on the money. The DAILY Hayward article. This is one is a double whammy. It is ALSO another article about a former Atlanta player.
Nice going…killed 2 birds with 1 stone.
I wonder what the Heyward article for Thursday will be about?
OedipusTax
May 26th, 2010
2:41 pm
Francoeur wore #12 at Parkview as a WR on offense and as a safety on defense, and was superb. That team was loaded with D1 talent, I believe the right tackle on the Super Bowl Champions, Stinchcomb, was also on that team. ‘gobraves’ must have had his Cheerios spiked with something.
John
May 26th, 2010
2:43 pm
this point has been made a million times already…so congrats on being the last journalist to report something obvious.
Dawgfan
May 26th, 2010
2:44 pm
TPic, I’m pretty sure Heyward has a really good arm. he just hasnt gotten chances to throw guys out like Frenchie did
FJR
May 26th, 2010
2:48 pm
French’s problem isn’t necessarily aggressiveness. It’s that he can’t recognize pitches until its too late. You ever notice how many hittable pitches he takes when he’s going though one of his “gotta be patient” phases? It’s easy to look like you’re being overaggressive when you can’t tell if the pitch is a ball or strike until its 20 feet away (less than a quarter second from crossing the plate). Which was about what I would guess with Francouer.
Tucker
May 26th, 2010
2:50 pm
Bradley
Easy to write this article when Frenchy is down. I noticed that we heard nary a word out of you when he was hitting 300+ at the beginning of the season. Before you write any obituaries, how about waiting until the end of the season. It is way to early to anoint J-Hey the better player but hopefully, Cox’s retirement will help not to mess up another promising young career.
Frenchy’s demise here was all about coaching. Give him time and he will continue to be productive offensively and extremely good defensively. Something the Braves are sadly missing with the current outfield. You glossed over the coaching in this story just so that you can get your next story.
Paddy O
May 26th, 2010
2:56 pm
As a Georgian, we should all root for fellow Georgians who have the talent to make it to the show. Especially a guy as likeable and with as much charisma as Frenchy. The people who are glad he is failing are actually showing more about the shortcomings of their character than that of Jeff. I hope he adjusts and keeps playing, at successful clip and with good stats.
TPic
May 26th, 2010
2:58 pm
Dawgfan, I agree, the chances to throw have been limited – but that also discounts your claim of him having a strong arm. Let’s call it a draw and say the jury is still out. My observation (admittedly a small sample) is based o the few throws I have seen. His physique is more suited to an Andre Dawson arm (if you are old enough to recall him) and not a Rickey Henderson arm.
meh
May 26th, 2010
3:00 pm
Heyward realizes when pitchers make adjustments and then he adjusts. Hence the .296 average. Francoeur doesn’t understand that when pitchers make adjustments then he also needs to adust. he just keeps hacking like he always does. Hence the .219 average
Paddy O
May 26th, 2010
3:01 pm
When did he quit on his team mates? please site references. please.
Paddy O
May 26th, 2010
3:07 pm
Heyward is a unique talent. ironically, he reminds me a lot of Strawberry, which may be why Bradley wrote the article. Heyward, as smart, wise and talented as he seems, could be a better player than Chipper for a long, long time. I really did not expect him to successfully make the jump from AA ball, but I was wrong. He does look at how pitchers are attacking him and is willing to take a walk. One thing that Frenchy is missing – patience and adaption.
Mid Town Joe
May 26th, 2010
3:16 pm
Most of Francour’s hitting woes were because of the hitting coach. TP
RaiderNowandForever
May 26th, 2010
3:17 pm
“A football player believes nothing can’t be fixed by sheer effort.” Bad line
“Baseball is a game of skill and precision, not strength and mass.” Also Crappy line
Mark Bradley you are a IDIOT. What was that can you say roids? Frenchy was like that because that is him. Football did not make him that way.
RaiderNowandForever
May 26th, 2010
3:20 pm
TPic well Said:
CH
May 26th, 2010
3:26 pm
Kilmer,
I have seen played more HS football than 99% of the people on this site. I played against most of the people you mentioned and a lot of the ones Mark mentioned. While I am not a Parkview fan, I can assure you Jeff was probably one of the top 3 overall players this state has seen in the last 35 years. Yes he played QB, when they needed him too. He also played receiver, slot back, corner, safety, returned kick, punts and did the punting.
Fur Man Bisher
May 26th, 2010
3:26 pm
Frenchy was a hard worker who played hard everyday. This Heyward kid will slack off like andruw jones once he gets a big fat contract.
How long before he makes the police blotter, something french never did
Pete*
May 26th, 2010
3:27 pm
TPic: “Francoeur has a strong arm and no speed; Heyward has no arm and lots of speed.”
Huh? While Heyward’s arm is not as good as JF, it is definitely well above average. “No arm” is a huge exaggeration in my opinion. I agree with all your comparisons except that one.
Correct that there has not been that many throwing chances for Heyward yet, but I watched him for many opportunities in 2 spring training seasons, and I saw a strong arm.