Craig Edwards can be found on twitter @craigjedwards. No matter which group you look at, he is likely to be a productive player at age 30. Gavin Lux is likely . His average ranking is 7.5. It took the Dodgers six games into their Cactus League schedule, but they finally achieved the ultimate spring . Jason Heyward Stats, Fantasy & News | MiLB.com Its not surprising. He recently contributed an article on Mike Stanton's slugging to The Hardball Times Annual 2012. He does write here, sometimes about the Mariners, but usually not. Fantasy Fallout: With Gavin Lux Out, Could A Sleeper Emerge? As to the first, this is not the article to convince someone about advanced defensive metrics, but his highlight-reel catches, mutiple Gold Gloves and three Fielding Bible awards seem to indicate there is some consensus from all viewpoints on the excellence of Heyward as a fielder. Atlanta Braves Rumors - MLB Trade Rumors - Part 276 From BIS, Heyward had the highest range numbers in the business. That level of production would justify a $200 million contract based on the first five years alone. rates Jason Heyward as the 28th best fantasy outfielder. 12 years and 0 . Last season was a huge disappointment for the Los Angeles Dodgers, as they were dropped in the NLDS by the rival San Diego Padres. There are only four players ahead of him on both offense and defense: Evan Longoria, Johnny Bench, Barry Bonds, and Cal Ripken. Gallo got the upper hand on the Red Sox in his second inning at-bat, drawing a walk to nullify Boston's shift. I cant wait to see how this turns out. All major league baseball data including pitch type, velocity, batted ball location, Jason Heyward Positions: Rightfielder, Centerfielder and Leftfielder Bats: Left Throws: Left 6-5 , 240lb (196cm, 108kg) Born: August 9, 1989 (Age: 33-206d) in Ridgewood, NJ us More bio, uniform, draft, salary info 1x All-Star 2016 World Series 5x Gold Glove Wilson Overall Def Player 22 22 22 Become a Stathead & surf this site ad-free. A year ago, Jason Heyward was a fantasy baseball stud muffin. Latest News/Blog Posts about Jason Heyward. Jordan Walker has a 28.5 ft/s Sprint Speed, good for an 80% percentile red lollipop once he gets a Savant slider. The group also has five players at the top who were tremendous successes. Instead, Heywards dinger deficiency has been the byproduct of some ominous declines: Whats changed? To bring this all back: There are very early signs that Jason Heyward is focusing more on the pull half of the field. Jason Alias Heyward (born August 9, 1989), nicknamed " J-Hey " is an American professional baseball right fielder for the Los Angeles Dodgers organization. So how did he end up with some of the best non-stolen-base baserunning numbers in the game? Heyward made just one out on an attempted advance in 19 tries. With a bad shoulder and back luck, he still held his own in 2011 Major League and Minor League Baseball data provided by Major League Baseball. Ronald Guzmnex-first baseman for the Texas Rangers, is pumping out 97-98 fastballs. So I was like, Im just gonna kind of throw it at him down the middle. And he hit it out. Dodgers' Jason Heyward on new environment that's more his speed. Miguel Rojas and Chris Taylor will play shortstop for now. Unfortunately, for studying purposes anyway, there simply are not enough of those types of players to look at. All Win Expectancy, Leverage Index, Run Expectancy, and Fans Scouting Report data licenced from TangoTiger.com. All UZR (ultimate zone rating) calculations are provided courtesy of Mitchel Lichtman. Ultimate Foul Balls - Jason Heyward - Ottoneu Fantasy Baseball Jason Heyward LAD OF L Born: 08/09/1989 Age: 33 FanGraphs Player Page Auctions are not allowed at this time On MLB 40-man: NO Acquired: Free Agent (CHC) Dec'22 Positions OF Overall Last 10. Upton, Chris Johnson and Andrelton Simmons, and its worth noting that Justin Upton and Heyward too, for that matter will be a free agent after next year, leaving open the possibility that the Braves could move him if the team decides to rebuild. Jason Heyward LAD OF L Born: 08/09/1989 Age: 33 FanGraphs Player Page Auctions are not allowed at this time On MLB 40-man: NO Acquired: Free Agent (CHC) Dec'22 Positions OF Overall Last 10 All. Their average WAR is below. Weve seen Heyward hit the ball out to right, and weve seen him hit the ball out to left. However, if we want some sort of hybrid, we can look at the declines of the offensive comps and the defensive comps and combine them. All major league baseball data including pitch type, velocity, batted ball location, Thats baserunning without those gaudy stolen bases. The No. Play-by-play data prior to 2002 was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted The team is heavy on left-handed hitting outfielders, with David Peralta locked in along with Jason Heyward fighting for a spot and top prospect James Outman on the cusp. The team appears content to begin the season with Trayce Thompson as the starter. Since the end of World War II, there are 42 players to have produced more than Heywards 61.9 defensive runs above average through age-25, and there are 61 players responsible for more offensive runs above average than Heywards 94.5 through his age-25 season. Phillies (24th, 1.4 WAR) With Bryce Harper undergoing Tommy John surgery and likely to miss the first half of the season, the spotlight is again on Nick Castellanos, whose performance in the first year of his five-year, $100 million deal was downright dreadful. Heywards main drawback, perhaps only drawback, as a player seeking more than $100 million is his lack of power. Jason Heyward is Coming Around | RotoGraphs Fantasy Baseball A recent graduate of Duquesne University, David Golebiewski is a contributing writer for Fangraphs, The Pittsburgh Sports Report and Baseball Analytics. Reported as the pre-2023 season number of waiver options remaining. Reported as the pre-2023 season number of waiver options remaining. Heyward is actually the most accomplished offensive player in the group due to being worth more than 20 runs above average on the bases, but strictly as a hitter, these are the players with similar profiles. It could have something to do with the. When Ellsbury was Heywards age, he had just completed his second full season. Jason Heyward isnt Mike Trout. Historically, Heyward has hit about 30% of his flies and liners toward left. The hard contact, however, is further reinforcement that some offseason swing changes are paying dividends. Updated: Saturday, March 4, 2023 4:51 PM ET, Park Factors And he continued to hit far too many ground balls (nearly 54 percent of the time he put it in play), limiting his power output (.162 ISO). Shelby Miller is a good young pitcher, but straight up for Heyward? by Retrosheet. Taylor may also appear at third base in Cactus League games. Progress report: Chicago Cubs - The San Diego Union-Tribune Greatest Careers Through Age 25 Since World War II, Jason Heyward WAR Comps, Age 26 to Age 30, Jason Heyward WAR Comps, Age 26 to Age 35, Jason Heyward Offense-Only Comps Through Age 25, Jason Heyward Offense-Only Comps, Age 26 Through Age 35, Jason Heyward Defense-Only Comps Through Age 26, Jason Heyward Defense-Only Comps, Age 26 Through Age 35. He's won Tout Wars three times, LABR twice, and got his first NFBC Main Event win in 2021. To isolate players similar to Heyward, I looked for players from 1960 to 2007 within five of Heywards 27.8 WAR and within 20% of his 3429 plate appearances. Mike Trout represented, perhaps, a belief that we could quantify the other aspects of the game and assign them value. If he took the same type of offensive step forward as Carlos Beltran and Reggie Smith, he might win an MVP. Im sure you dont think about ground-ball pull rate very often, but I like it as an indicator of change. Cubs president Jed Hoyer announced Monday the club intends to release veteran outfielder Jason Heyward from the final year of his deal at the end of the 2022 season. Combining average power with a low strikeout rate (14.8% in 2015) and a solid walk rate (9.2%), Heywards wRC+ of 121 puts him in the upper third in terms of the leagues hitters. Heyward went first to third on a single 15 of 32 times according to BIS, and that's not quite Trout-level (62%), but it was 15th-best of 180 qualified players. and play-by-play data provided by Sports Info Solutions. Forget about everything else. Swinging at more off-the-plate pitches, hitting the ball up the elevator shaft, smacking ground balls like a slap-hitting middle infielder none of these are good things. Heaney added that, in the regular season, he probably wouldnt have thrown that pitch in that situation. But, after falling to a .227/.319/.389 triple-slash and 14 homers in 2011 while bothered by a bum shoulder, Heyward ranks 31st among outfielders (114th overall) in MockDraftCentral.coms latest ADP rankings. The Cubs released Heyward. Even if Heyward were to hit for more power, that might be offset by a drop in singles, or by an increase in strikeouts. Here are their total numbers from age 26 through age 35, a total of ten seasons per player. With the exception of ZiPS, the projection systems (and the fans) see Heyward as more of a .270 hitter with a high OBP and 20-homer power in 2012: ZiPS: .255/.360/.427, 17 HR by Handedness, Making Too Much of Too Little Jason Heyward, Effectively Wild Episode 852: 2016 Season Preview Series: Chicago Cubs, Evaluating the 2016 Prospects: St. Louis Cardinals, pulled ground balls have by far the lowest success rate of any balls in play. . He has been nominated for two SABR Analytics Research Award for Contemporary Analysis and won it in 2013 in tandem with Bill Petti. Major League and Minor League Baseball data provided by Major League Baseball. $8? Only Garrett Jones (three of 108) had a smaller percentage of GDPs with a minimum of 100 opportunities. Yeah, if continued this would make him shiftable. Nick Frasso, who had a 1.83 ERA and 76 strikeouts in 54 innings last season, was acquired from the Blue Jays in . Perhaps rightfully so. Aggravating as it might be, we dont know the answers to those questions. Heaney then tossed a middle-middle fastball, hoping for an easy strike. In the *other* MVP debate, Miguel Cabrera represented, perhaps, a belief in the older-school stats, those three fetishized numbers that have been in the newspapers since the games inception. Cubs Prospect Notes: Canario's Ranking, Brown's Pitches, Alcntara's Reported as the pre-2023 season number of waiver options remaining. Heres a powerful triple to center. Heyward and David Peralta, a pair of veteran left-handed hitters, could see time against right-handed pitchers. Just like I wanted to see one in there. and play-by-play data provided by Sports Info Solutions. Meanwhile, the team is likely stuck with big contracts for the likes of B.J. 2022 Updated In-Season Projections by Handedness. Heres a bomb to right-center. by Handedness. Roberts described Jason Heyward, the former Cub who came to Dodgers camp as a non-roster invite, as more than adequate in the field at center. One spring of spring-training data. The names brought up most recently with regard to Heyward are Jacoby Ellsbury, who got seven years and $153 million from the New York Yankees two years ago, and Carl Crawford, who received seven years and $142 million from the Boston Red Sox five years ago. 2023 Pre-Season Projections For my ease, I took five-year averages for both WAR and the cost of a win when calculating the total. From 26 to 35, the group got better offensively and the only player who completely busted was Carey Patterson. The former Yankees and Rangers first baseman topped out at 97 mph from the left side and struck out the first batter he faced swinging on an offspeed pitch. Birthdate: 8/9/1989 (33 y, 6 m, 21 d) Drafted: 2007 June Amateur Draft - Round: 1, Pick: 14, Overall: 14, Team: Atlanta Braves Major League and Minor League Baseball data provided by Major League Baseball. Its easy to lose sight of Heywards age, considering that he has been in the majors for two years, stands 6-foot-5, 240 pounds and could probably grow a beard by noon if he shaved right now. by Handedness, Trying to Put a Value on Jason Heyward in Free Agency, Effectively Wild Episode 761: An Offseason Friday Gallimaufry, The Best of FanGraphs: November 2-6, 2015. Trejo, 27, is fine with pushing for all the starts he can at second if thats his opportunity to be in the lineup. Second, if Heywards defense declines he ages, he is not likely to be of much value. All UZR (ultimate zone rating) calculations are provided courtesy of Mitchel Lichtman. Theres very little fly-ball action in left field. Cubs, Heyward Agree To $184 Million, Eight-Year Deal Tag: Jason Heyward | Community Blog Ottoneu Fantasy Baseball - playercard - FanGraphs Staff Two - Jason Heyward What follows is an attempt to find similar players to Heyward using various methods: WAR, offense, defense, and a hybrid of offense and defense. Play-by-play data prior to 2002 was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted Heywards .113 ISO was no less than 71 points below his career mark entering this year, he slugged just .384 and notched only 58 RBIs, despite making about one-third of his plate appearances as the fifth hitter in the Braves order. When signing long-term contracts, teams tend to pay them out equally over the length of the contract. Andy Pages emerging, however, could free Taylor up for the infield (we'll talk about him more in a bit). I was like, I really just want to see a strike, Heaney said. Gotta elevate if youre going to be pull-focused. He clearly can the man stands 65. With Gavin Lux out for the season, Dodgers plot avenues to contend once Instead, Heyward will step into the box for his first post-All-Star at-bat with a .226/.315/.404 triple-slash. After a 27 homer and 21 steal campaign and the fact that After a 27 homer and 21 steal campaign and the fact that Justin Upton was acquired to hit directly As such, its hard to decide what to make of Heywards 2014 season, in which he finished 34th among outfielders in Zach Sanders rankings, as he made strides as a contact hitter while taking a step back in the power department. Simply put, players who dominate the competition at such a young age often end up in Cooperstown, not benched in favor of Jose Constanza. Major League Leaderboards 2015 Outfielders Fielding Statistics The Chicago Cubs already boasted one of the best young . Despite three home runs in his first five spring at-bats, thats not really part of his game. All Win Expectancy, Leverage Index, Run Expectancy, and Fans Scouting Report data licenced from TangoTiger.com. sent RF Jason Heyward on a rehab assignment to Gwinnett Braves. While Heyward is a solid offensive player, he does get a decent portion of his value from defense, which causes some concern about how Heywards value will sustain itself as he ages. And then well see if he wants to stay on the same course. Play-by-play data prior to 2002 was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted This spring, Heyward has hit 18 flies and liners, and hes sent two of them toward left. Im a little stubborn in that way. I dont want to start my first game of Spring Training going 3-0 on a guy or nibbling. To me, that looks light, and as a huge Heyward fan I am doing my best in putting that out there without bias. All of this he managed while only stealing 21 bases. But for now, we can revel in the fact that Jason Heyward, yeah he does a pretty good Mike Trout impression. But, when seen in the light of this years AL MVP debate, as well as the context of these four young outfielders, it is remarkable that Heyward has taken a similar path to Mike Trout, even with an athleticism that might be touch short of that demonstrated by the American League Rookie of the Year. Support FanGraphs. ESPN, FanGraphs, MLB Pipeline . Massive crying face emoji. That Aaron Boone batting order is plugged into the Lineup . For comparisons sake, the average age for hitters in the Low-A South Atlantic League (which Heyward aced at 18) was 21.4 in 2011. Games, Puzzles, and Crossword. Biggio knows right field well. These comparable players here are not quite as accomplished as those from the WAR group above, which is to be expected given defense is not taken into account. Cubs Plan to Release Jason Heyward From Final Year of Deal Whether he finds a home with Cleveland certainly wont depend on whether Quinn can maintain his power output. Follow/harass him on Twitter @Karl_de_Vries. Red Sox employ loophole to MLB shift ban against Joey Gallo Advanced fielding statistics Ultimate Zone Rating (. Solid production, that, despite some disappointing seasons mixed in. His 2012 projections are strong Hes hit 24 homers the last two years combined. Technically, the entire 1927 Yankees couldnt legally buy a beer, either. All Win Expectancy, Leverage Index, Run Expectancy, and Fans Scouting Report data licenced from TangoTiger.com. Earlier this week, August Fagerstrom took a look at recent seasons authored first of Mike Trout and then of Clayton Kershaw and compared them to the greatest peaks of all time. We're asking for your help to make it. The games, as you well know, havent mattered yet. Apparently the Dodgers will do anything to keep James Outman on the farm. Yet, its difficult to project just how hell play during the rest of the season. Carpenter upped his power output, and his grounder pull rate jumped from 53% to 68%. Heyward improved slightly in the years to come but still struggled to get back to the form he showed prior to coming to Chicago. Dodgers outfielder Jason Heyward had glowing praise for manager Dave Roberts, whom he calls a "baseball rat" who loves being around the game. Quinn worked this winter with hitting consultant Ryan Sutterer, who analyzed Quinns body movements and helped him understand how he can repeat his mechanics on a consistent basis. The Yankees finished second in the majors and first in the American League in 2022 with 4.98 runs scored per game. Examining The Cubs' Fifth Starter Options from MLBTradeRumors.com at 2/22/2023 4:39:00 AM. Bothered by a right shoulder injury that has lingered since spring training and pushed him to the DL in late May, Heyward has yet to reach the double digits in home runs and has drawn criticism from Chipper Jones regarding his ability to play through injuries. The numbers may seem outrageous, but MLB revenues have been rising at very high rates, and there is so rarely a player of Heywards caliber and age that the market will likely have a difficult time finding a consensus. Major League and Minor League Baseball data provided by Major League Baseball. I think the Bogaerts and Carpenter examples are meant to show that, while ground ball pull rate might not seem to be related to power at all (as you say, ground balls are not that great usually), Jeff thinks of it as an indicator of change.. Theres no disputing that Heyward was frustrating to watch at times in 2011. All Win Expectancy, Leverage Index, Run Expectancy, and Fans Scouting Report data licenced from TangoTiger.com. The 2023 series on team offense continues with the New York Yankees. But even so, it seems like he has endured some bad luck on balls put in play. All this before you look at his 11 home runs, easily a career low, less than the 14 he put up in two separate seasons when he averaged just 448 plate appearances. Roberts described Jason Heyward, the former Cub who came to Dodgers camp as a non-roster invite, as "more than adequate" in the field at center. Since Heyward is also the tallest of the four young outfielders at six-foot-five, we have reason to be worried about how long this can hold up for him. He was 97-98 [mph], but I dont think that was the most interesting part of the outing. Especially because of the accidental report that floated this week about Canario already being back on the field doing baseball work (he's not; still way too early for . Jason Heyward, who was instrumental in the lore of the infamous Game 7 rain delay, was once the thorn in the side of fans looking for a scapegoat to blame for the club's lack of spending. With the injury to Gavin Lux, Miguel Rojas and Chris Taylor will see time at shortstop while Jason Heyward and Trayce Thompson will play in center field. Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or . Mining the News (3/2/23) | RotoGraphs Fantasy Baseball Thats 40-50 points below the NL average and ranks among the likes of Aubrey Huff and Yorvit Torrealba. Potential Dodgers shortstop options after Gavin Lux's ACL Injury Because, even if he did it from the corner outfield, Heyward was able to emulate the Angelic newcomer in a way. All Win Expectancy, Leverage Index, Run Expectancy, and Fans Scouting Report data licenced from TangoTiger.com. Thats been fairly consistent. Its not that he cant hit the ball out to all fields, but his career-best homer rate is to the pull side. Heywards value also wasnt helped by a Braves lineup that finished among baseballs worst in wOBA and runs scored, and if the Braves were to move Evan Gattis this winter to make room for Christian Bethancourt, the lineup likely would only be weaker in 2015. Adding in 23 steals on 26 attempts and the rest of his baserunning, Heywards 22 runs above average on offense placed him within the top quarter of qualified hitters. Every other player produced at an incredibly high level from age 26 to age 35, maintaining their hitting line from 26 to 35 that they had in their early 20s. That has something to do with the Angels deciding to play Trout in the corner outfield from time to time, but it also has a lot to do with Heyward having great range for a corner outfielder. Heywards year wasnt in the same realm as Ott, Mantle or A-Rod, but he outdid Willie Mays, Hank Aaron (outside of the top 25 with a 103 OPS+) and Johnny Bench, among many others, and kept company with Junior Griffey. Its really impressive to see a guy go out there and throw a ton of strikes and throw strikes with his offspeed pitches. FanGraphs Mugs. Again, the talent is too much to ignore, and the increased contact and stolen bases are encouraging signs for a guy who still has at least a season or two to go before truly entering what should be the peak years of his career. Games. Team Offense, New York Yankees | baseballmusings.com But consider this for a moment: despite those negatives, despite Heyward dealing with a lingering right shoulder injury and despite a 75 point drop in his batting average on balls in play (from .335 to .260), Heyward was still basically a league-average hitter in 2011. Follow him on Twitter @enosarris if you can handle the sandwiches and inanity. Prior to the . Lacking in top shelf power, Heyward still provided solid numbers on offense, and after a disappointing start with he Cardinals, he hit .306/.375/.455 with a wRC+ of 130 from the beginning of May to the end of the season. In fact, only teammate Michael Bourn managed more defensive value all around from the outfield. Dec 11 2015 Signed an 8 year $184 million contract with Chicago (CHC) Nov 15 2015 Player declined $15.8 million qualiying offer. Contact David at david.golebiewski@gmail.com and check out his work at Journalist For Hire. Its impossible for anyone outside of the Braves training room and front office to assess Heywards health. Roberts described Jason Heyward, the former Cub who came to Dodgers camp as a non-roster invite, as "more than adequate" in the field at center. Ground balls are a function of the swings, and consider Xander Bogaerts. Heyward hasnt shown quite the same level of plate discipline this season, as his rate of swinging at pitches out of the strike zone has increased by about four percentage points (24.2 percent to 28.3 percent; the MLB average is 29-30 percent). by Retrosheet. Heyward was coming off a rookie season in which he popped 18 home runs and batted .277/.393/.456 at age 20, tying him with Ty Cobb for the 15th best OPS+ ever for a hitter who qualified for the batting title but couldnt legally buy a beer. With an acknowledgment to the variance in sample size, we can compare the pitch locations of his 2014 against his first four big league seasons: As you might have guessed, thats bad news for Heyward, who, like many left-handed hitters, does his best work when hes able to feast on balls down and in. According to FanGraphs, the 26-year-old was worth 6.0 fWAR (FanGraphs' Wins Above Replacement) in '15the sixth most WAR among outfielders. Our premise is that their bad (or Nov 6 2015 Extended a $15.8 million qualiying offer by St. Louis (STL) Nov 17 2014 Traded to St. Louis (STL) from Atlanta (ATL) with Jordan Walden for Shelby Miller and Tyrell Jenkins. But thats never safe against a hitter like Betts, who launched it deep over the left-center-field wall at Surprise Stadium. Taking the runs above average on offense from the offensive group and the runs above average from the defensive group, adding in the value of a replacement player by averaging the plate appearances from the two groups and then using ten runs per win, we can get an approximate value. Notable in the Dodgers lineup is Jason Heyward playing in back-to-back games for the first time this spring, starting in centerfield for the second straight day. De Paula hit .350/.448/.522 with 13 doubles, five home runs, and two triples in 53 games in the Dominican Summer League in his professional debut, and the power was intriguing enough that FanGraphs wasn't alone on an island. FOX Sports - Rowan Kavner 1d. Watch as both teams attempt to take one step closer to . The Fans: .279/.378/.468, 21 HR. The group as a whole averaged nearly four wins per season from age 26 through age 30, which would be a very good result for Jason Heyward. Chicago Cubs. It would be a tragedy if nagging injuries keep him from playing to his full potential. Signup . Good defensive outfielders might simply be a smaller subset of that group overall. All Win Expectancy, Leverage Index, Run Expectancy, and Fans Scouting Report data licenced from TangoTiger.com. All UZR (ultimate zone rating) calculations are provided courtesy of Mitchel Lichtman. Heyward remains a tempting upside guy on draft day, but its hard to bid on him too far beyond the price tag of a No. FanSided 1 day Jason Heyward . Major League and Minor League Baseball data provided by Major League Baseball. One of the hottest young prospects in baseball right now is Atlanta's Jason Heyward. Brooklyn-based Jay Jaffe is a senior writer for FanGraphs, the author of The Cooperstown Casebook (Thomas Dunne Books, 2017) and the creator of the JAWS (Jaffe WAR Score) metric for Hall of Fame analysis. Jason Heyward Minor & Fall Leagues Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com Similarly, if you focus on Heywards triple crown numbers .269 with 27 home runs and 82 RBI youd be missing all that extra value he added in other facets of the game. The Pirates suggested that Oviedo begin throwing a sinker because his four-seam fastball naturally sinks. Jason Heyward Contract Details, Salaries, & Earnings | Spotrac . Play-by-play data prior to 2002 was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted - He founded the Futility Infielder website (2001), was a columnist for Baseball Prospectus (2005-2012) and a contributing writer for Sports Illustrated (2012-2018). Heyward will get paid. Jason Heyward - MLB Trade Rumors Obviously, Heyward is nowhere near as good as Rodriguez was then, but the argument for blowing the budget to sign him is a similar one.