While the $330 million figure is likely the one that jumps out, I would direct your attention to the smallest number: $159 million. It happens. Hes forever been a work in progress, so maybe hed change his focus on a whim. The Royals, Billy Butler, and Young Pitching. But for now, we can revel in the fact that Jason Heyward, yeah he does a pretty good Mike Trout impression. Home run spike shows Statcast science is more potent than steroids Historically, Heyward has hit about 30% of his flies and liners toward left. Red Sox employ loophole to MLB shift ban against Joey Gallo Bill James Heaney added that, in the regular season, he probably wouldnt have thrown that pitch in that situation. Injuries happen and players decline unexpectedly. Jason Heyward CF B/T: L/L 6' 5" 240LBS Age: 33 Draft: 2007 Rd: 1, #14, Atlanta Braves Henry County (GA) HS Player Apps Pitch Highlighter Player Similarity Shifts Swing Take Profile illustrator Zone Swing Profile Player Comparison Transaction History Show Random Video Stats Statcast Standard Splits Game Logs MLB Minors Batting Fielding Visuals The WAR group, which constitutes the group most closely approximating the quality of the player Jason Heyward is currently, puts Heyward on a Hall of Fame track. Jason Heyward - Graphs - - Batting | FanGraphs Baseball Looking at the numbers from 26 to 30 in each group, it is. 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. by Handedness, Whos Been (Un)luckyThe Starting Pitchers. The No. Hes still really young If you can sign him without an opt-out, you might be in the rare position of having an 8- or 10-year megadeal where the player is worth his salary every year. Signup . There are few who doubt that, after finishing up his sixth season in Major League Baseball, Jason Heyward is a good player. Over the last four years, he hasn't had a wRC+ under 110 or over 121, but there's so clearly the. Reported as the pre-2023 season number of waiver options remaining. Higgins over one inning. Gift a Membership. Well know whats up by the beginning of May. and play-by-play data provided by Sports Info Solutions. 2023 600 PA / 200 IP Projections Steamer600. Jason Heyward graphs for Major League baseball. Is Jason Heyward Being Properly Valued? | RotoGraphs Fantasy Baseball It was a true comfort level, not rattled at all. Major League Leaderboards 2015 Outfielders Fielding Statistics But lets diagnose why Atlantas prodigy is turning in a subpar sophomore season. Solid production, that, despite some disappointing seasons mixed in. He went first to home on a double six of nine times, which is about average. Trying to Put a Value on Jason Heyward in Free Agency Updated: Saturday, March 4, 2023 4:51 PM ET, Park Factors Manager Dave Roberts indicated Taylor would spend 20 to 25 percent of the games there, in addition to his usual work in the outfield. For the first method, we assume the only information we know is age, WAR, and total number of plate appearances. All UZR (ultimate zone rating) calculations are provided courtesy of Mitchel Lichtman. Perhaps the most aggravating trends for Heyward are his propensity to pop the ball up, producing gimme outs, and chop the ball into the ground, failing to make good use of his prodigious power and 6-foot-5, 240 pound frame. Trejo, 27, is fine with pushing for all the starts he can at second if thats his opportunity to be in the lineup. While Heyward did fall into some bad habits at the plate last year and has some durability concerns, this is a perfect time to buy low on a youthful outfielder with superstar potential. Given his decent wheels, it seems highly unlikely that Heyward will continue to keep company with players who run like they have grand pianos strapped to their backs. Updated: Saturday, March 4, 2023 4:51 PM ET, Park Factors But as long as were just having fun here, consider a few numbers. Unfortunately, for studying purposes anyway, there simply are not enough of those types of players to look at. Play-by-play data prior to 2002 was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted Dodgers News: Jason Heyward Opens Up About Dave Roberts As a Manager Heyward was a little below the average offensively and well above the average defensively. This spring, Heyward has hit 18 flies and liners, and hes sent two of them toward left. 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. The hard contact, however, is further reinforcement that some offseason swing changes are paying dividends. But even so, it seems like he has endured some bad luck on balls put in play. All major league baseball data including pitch type, velocity, batted ball location, The 19-year old was a first round pick in 2007 and has wasted no time The 19-year old was a first round pick in 2007 and has wasted no time establishing himself as a premier outfielder by Handedness, 2007 June Amateur Draft - Round: 1, Pick: 14, Overall: 14, Team: Atlanta Braves. Looking solely at defense, these are the types of players who compare with Heyward. Atlanta Braves Rumors - MLB Trade Rumors - Part 276 Non-roster invitee Ronald Guzmn, who is in Giants camp as a two-way player, made his pitching debut in the ninth, surrendering a solo shot to P.J. Using FanGraphs approximate current cost of a win at $8 million, the numbers are even bigger. Look at Jason Heyward. All Win Expectancy, Leverage Index, Run Expectancy, and Fans Scouting Report data licenced from TangoTiger.com. He will split time with utility player Chris Taylor, who started at shortstop against Texas on Wednesday. I cant wait to see how this turns out. 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. The grounders are just about all pulled. Can you imagine what he would have batted if he had been in the Carolina League or the Pac-12 over the past couple of years? Gomber is working on a two-seam, sinking fastball that he hopes will work at altitude. Reported as the pre-2023 season number of waiver options remaining. This is how it usually works with increases in pulled grounders: Its a consequence of taking a more power-centric approach. FanGraphs projects San Diego as the . Its impossible for anyone outside of the Braves training room and front office to assess Heywards health. Our premise is that their bad (or All major league baseball data including pitch type, velocity, batted ball location, My favorite minor story line this season is that the Cubs are paying about $40 million to replace Heyward with Bellinger, and the Dodgers are paying about $0 to replace Bellinger with Heyward. Aggravating as it might be, we dont know the answers to those questions. Age is the decisive factor here. Cubs Prospect Notes: Canario's Ranking, Brown's Pitches, Alcntara's Anyhow, heres where Heyward has hit baseballs in spring 2016: Of course Im wary of talking about anything based on so little data. Major League and Minor League Baseball data provided by Major League Baseball. After the home run, back in the zone with offspeed pitches. For one thing, pitchers have shied away from trying to bust Heyward inside, and instead are focusing on trying to get him to chase pitches away. That search reveals the following players. Jason Heyward - Stats - Batting | FanGraphs Baseball Updated: Saturday, March 4, 2023 4:51 PM ET, Park Factors This production is, quite frankly, incredible. Rojas, a 34-year-old, glove-first veteran, was acquired in the winter to aid the groups depth. He swung at more pitches thrown outside of the strike zone (28.3%, compared to 23.3% in 2010), which led to a dip in his walk rate (11.2 BB%). Just how healthy is Heyward? Limiting Heyward comps solely to free agents leaves little by way of realistic comparison. He has been nominated for two SABR Analytics Research Award for Contemporary Analysis and won it in 2013 in tandem with Bill Petti. by Handedness, 2007 June Amateur Draft - Round: 1, Pick: 14, Overall: 14, Team: Atlanta Braves. by Retrosheet. The headline raises the red flag right off the bat Im probably making too much of too little. 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. Ultimate Foul Balls - Jason Heyward - Ottoneu Fantasy Baseball I used ten-year figures in this analysis, but moving to an eight- or nine-year contract would not significantly change the values, as the bulk of all production is recorded in the early part of the contract. Heyward, a .211-hitter in 2021 and 2022, made significant swing changes over the winter. All Win Expectancy, Leverage Index, Run Expectancy, and Fans Scouting Report data licenced from TangoTiger.com. The above comparison paints an incredibly optimistic and rosy view of Heywards future, but there is some evidence to suggest that phenoms like Heyward age better than the rest of the population. and play-by-play data provided by Sports Info Solutions. 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. 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. Its not that he cant hit the ball out to all fields, but his career-best homer rate is to the pull side. 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. and play-by-play data provided by Sports Info Solutions. Last year he hit for almost zero power, and his grounder pull rate went from 68% to 43%. Dodgers spring training: Freddie Freeman homers, Miguel Vargas walks Heyward went first to third on a single 15 of 32 times according to BIS, and thats not quite Trout-level (62%), but it was 15th-best of 180 qualified players. 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. A year ago, Jason Heyward was a fantasy baseball stud muffin. His arm isnt great BIS had him costing the Braves three runs in that manner but his range was so impressive that he offered center-field like defense even once he was penalized for playing in the corner outfield. and play-by-play data provided by Sports Info Solutions. First, there are questions as to whether Heyward is actually worth as much as the defensive metrics say he is. All Win Expectancy, Leverage Index, Run Expectancy, and Fans Scouting Report data licenced from TangoTiger.com. A few trade pickups last year are rated highly in 2023. As teams expect to get the best production at the beginning of the contract, they understand that a contract will likely underpay the player in the early years and potentially overpay him as he ages with the surplus from the beginning ideally canceling out the loss at the end. Its really impressive to see a guy go out there and throw a ton of strikes and throw strikes with his offspeed pitches. His plate discipline improved as well, as he set a new career best with a 15.1% strikeout rate, fueled by his best SwStr% and Contact% rates yet. 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. Ronald Guzmnex-first baseman for the Texas Rangers, is pumping out 97-98 fastballs. 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. Maybe Heyward just belongs in that 110 120 range of wRC+. Oliver: .273/.367/.475, 19 HR These were the players remaining. 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 His work for Inside Edge Scouting Services has appeared on ESPN.com and Yahoo.com, and he was a fantasy baseball columnist for Rotoworld from 2009-2010. In fact, only teammate Michael Bourn managed more defensive value all around from the outfield. A recent graduate of Duquesne University, David Golebiewski is a contributing writer for Fangraphs, The Pittsburgh Sports Report and Baseball Analytics. Miguel Rojas and Chris Taylor will play shortstop for now. The Chicago Cubs already boasted one of the best young . Just a couple years ago, it was Jason Heyward and Giancarlo Stanton that were tearing up baseball, looking like an unprecedented pair of rookie talents ready to continue on into the stratosphere together. That was awesome, Kapler said. by Retrosheet. He has won four FSWA Awards including on for his Mining the News series. It may sound strange, but in a way Heywards 2011 season is actually a testament to his supreme ability. Technically, the entire 1927 Yankees couldnt legally buy a beer, either. May 23, 2011 Atlanta Braves placed RF Jason Heyward on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to May 22, 2011. But, man oh man, do people ever love to talk about Jason Heyward not hitting for enough power. Heyward has been an above average offensive player, incredible on defense, and heading into free agency a few months after turning 26 years old, provides few realistic players for comparison. Im a little stubborn in that way. But Trejo, who came to Spring Training to try to change some minds, had a change in latitude because Gold Glove second baseman Brendan Rodgers sustained a dislocated left shoulder in the previous game. 12 years and 0 . by Retrosheet. Major League and Minor League Baseball data provided by Major League Baseball. Historically, Heyward has pulled just over half his grounders. Braves news: Surprise candidate emerges for potential rotation spot Jason Heyward - Wikipedia 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. Those are just selective links, but they show Heyward with a right-center approach, and a good amount of batted-ball authority. Throw caution to the wind, even. Consider this an expansion on Matt Klaasens crowning of Jason Heyward as the King oF Little Things if you will. Alan Trejo will likely move into the second base spot with Brendan Rodgers on the IL. "I've talked . Hows it going to go? This season I am using FanGraphs Roster Resource Depth Charts * as the source of default lineups. Kiner-Falefa had a slash line of .261/.314/.327 . and play-by-play data provided by Sports Info Solutions. Castellanos hit just .263/.305/.389 for a 94 wRC+ (matching his career-worst mark . by Handedness. We need your support to make FanGraphs sustainable so you can continue to enjoy all of the stats and tools you've come to rely on, like The Leaderboards. Currently, Yahoo! The coaches that were working with me were trying to get me to throw a sinker because sometimes my fastball sinks, Oviedo said. This group also aged incredibly well. Id imagine all those infield popups are at least partly due to his bum shoulder. and play-by-play data provided by Sports Info Solutions. Looking at the numbers from 26 to 30 in each group, it is understandable why Heywards agents would seek an opt-out clause within the first five years. He looked like a pitcher.. Shelby Miller is a good young pitcher, but straight up for Heyward? On June 3, Higgins recorded his first major league hit, . The group also has five players at the top who were tremendous successes. by Retrosheet. - 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. Composite Dodgers 2023 team prospect rankings Birthdate: 8/9/1989 (33 y, 6 m, 21 d) Drafted: 2007 June Amateur Draft - Round: 1, Pick: 14, Overall: 14, Team: Atlanta Braves Play-by-play data prior to 2002 was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted Games, Puzzles, and Crossword. With a 21.8 percent infield fly ball rate, he hit the ball up the elevator shaft more often than any batter with at least 400 plate appearances. Jeff, one of the authors of the fantasy baseball guide,The Process, writes for RotoGraphs, The Hardball Times, Rotowire, Baseball America, and BaseballHQ. . Last season was a huge disappointment for the Los Angeles Dodgers, as they were dropped in the NLDS by the rival San Diego Padres. Heyward did it all offensively as a rookie: he showed superb plate discipline (a 14.6% walk rate), hit for power (a .179 Isolated Power) and didnt punch out at an exorbitant rate (20.5 K%). On Friday, the Cubs won the bidding for Jason Heyward, convincing the outfielder to come to Chicago despite offers for more guaranteed money from the Nationals, the Cardinals, and reportedly. by Handedness, swung at more pitches thrown outside of the strike zone. Jacoby Ellsbury just finished Year Two of his contract. Fantasy Fallout: With Gavin Lux Out, Could A Sleeper Emerge? The next group of comps considers only offensive production. And its easy to identify the problem: Observers wish that Heyward would hit for more power. Now, increasingly deprived of opportunities to pull pitches, Heyward in recent years has been going the other way more often, and 2014 saw more than 19% of his plate appearances end with him hitting the ball to the opposite field, a new career high, and a credible explanation for the plunge in distance and home runs. The Yankees finished second in the majors and first in the American League in 2022 with 4.98 runs scored per game. 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. Play-by-play data prior to 2002 was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted It was a massive year-to-year swing, as Bogaerts concentrated on getting hits the other way. Everything that could go wrong did, yet he held his own at age 21. Thats why I want to make sure you understand Im not really concluding anything. 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. All major league baseball data including pitch type, velocity, batted ball location, The line was rough from lefty starter Austin Gomber on Tuesday against the Rangers four runs on five hits, including a Clint Frazier home run, while recording two outs. All Win Expectancy, Leverage Index, Run Expectancy, and Fans Scouting Report data licenced from TangoTiger.com. Jason Heyward - Graphs - WAR - Batting | FanGraphs Baseball Major League and Minor League Baseball data provided by Major League Baseball. Dodgers' Jason Heyward on new environment that's more his speed. Gavin Lux's Knee Injury Further Compromises Dodgers' New-Look Infield Dodgers Add Jason Heyward LA signs five-time Gold Glover to a minor league deal with an invite to major league camp via Bleacher Report Jason Heyward Cubs Moving On from Heyward Team. 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. Jason Heyward graphs for Major League baseball. 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. His work for Inside Edge Scouting Services has appeared on ESPN.com and Yahoo.com, and he was a fantasy baseball columnist for Rotoworld from 2009-2010. Im not all that mad about it. That Aaron Boone batting order is plugged into the Lineup . Its where most hitters are strongest, and when Heyward had his powerful 2012, he hit just three of his homers the other way. 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. Sadly, the only skill that Heyward hasnt displayed during his bright, brief career is health. At an age when most players are chasing a trip to Omaha or cutting their teeth in Low Class-A, Jason Heyward crushed major league pitching in 2010. Dodgers trade rumors: Isiah Kiner-Falefa & Tim Anderson seem unlikely The fact that he gets value from non-traditional means is also not a brain buster. All of this he managed while only stealing 21 bases. Maybe hed find a different path to a familiar destination. I dont want to start my first game of Spring Training going 3-0 on a guy or nibbling. All Win Expectancy, Leverage Index, Run Expectancy, and Fans Scouting Report data licenced from TangoTiger.com. His 2012 projections are strong Jordan Walker has a 28.5 ft/s Sprint Speed, good for an 80% percentile red lollipop once he gets a Savant slider. and play-by-play data provided by Sports Info Solutions. We're asking for your help to make it. According to Fangraphs, during his first six seasons, Jason Heyward was "worth" $198.1 million. The Weakest Positions on National League Contenders As expected, their value on defense drops over the next ten years, but a curious thing has happened to their offensive numbers simultaneously. The shift movement had already produced some . Crawford debuted young, but due to a team-friendly contract, he did not become a free agent until after his age-28 season, three years older than Heyward. by Handedness, 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. According to Statcast, Walker registered a sprint speed of 28.5 feet per second with 30 feet per second being considered elite-level speed usually reserved for middle infielders and cat-quick centerfielders. So how did he end up with some of the best non-stolen-base baserunning numbers in the game? The 2023 series on team offense continues with the New York Yankees. . Here is how they performed over their next ten seasons. There are only four players ahead of him on both offense and defense: Evan Longoria, Johnny Bench, Barry Bonds, and Cal Ripken. Heywards 131 OPS+ as a 20-year-old bested that of Willie Mays and put him in the same company as Ken Griffey Jr. Its no surprise, then, that there were enormous expectations for the Braves right fielder in 2011: the fans projected him to hit above .290 while getting on base nearly 40 percent of the time and slugging north of .500. Follow him on Twitter @jeffwzimmerman. News; Wikipedia: . All major league baseball data including pitch type, velocity, batted ball location, Dodgers outfielder Jason Heyward had glowing praise for manager Dave Roberts, whom he calls a "baseball rat" who loves being around the game. The Fans: .279/.378/.468, 21 HR. Exceptional Braves Seasons you probably forgot about . Im not going to worry about it.. Jason Heyward got more credit for his defense than Mike Trout, by our numbers. The general concern around Heyward and defense is twofold. Hitters might not want to hear this, but Phillies ace Zack Wheeler just added another pitch to his arsenal. What follows is an attempt to find similar players to Heyward using various methods: WAR, offense, defense, and a hybrid of offense and defense. Theres a pretty good distribution of balls around the field. Jason Heyward isnt Mike Trout. You could make a strong argument that it was the most impressive performance for a batter under age 21 since The Kid took Seattle by storm back in 1990. Birthdate: 8/9/1989 (33 y, 6 m, 10 d) Drafted: 2007 June Amateur Draft - Round: 1, Pick: 14, Overall: 14, Team: Atlanta Braves 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. Theres no disputing that Heyward was frustrating to watch at times in 2011. From BIS, Heyward had the highest range numbers in the business. Mining the News (3/2/23) | RotoGraphs Fantasy Baseball Over the last four years, he hasnt had a wRC+ under 110 or over 121, but theres so clearly the potential for so much more than that too few people have come away satisfied. Hes hit 24 homers the last two years combined. Just ask Jason Heyward. Contact David at david.golebiewski@gmail.com and check out his work at Journalist For Hire. He homered off former Dodger Andrew Heaney in Wednesdays second inning. One of the hottest young prospects in baseball right now is Atlanta's Jason Heyward. I then looked at age-25 performance and eliminated anyone who was not within two wins of Heywards six-win season this year. That level of production would justify a $200 million contract based on the first five years alone. Believe it or not, on a team with Chipper Jones, Brian McCann, Freddie Freeman, and Martin Prado, Bourn was tied with Jason Heyward with the most fWAR for position players on the Atlanta Braves. Bill James: .269/.374/.457, 21 HR Miguel Rojas will replace Lux at shortstop. Perhaps rightfully so. The pre-season #1 prospect, whose legend grew with each car he dented while going deep in spring training, batted .277/.393/.456. So I was like, Im just gonna kind of throw it at him down the middle. And he hit it out. Heres why. All major league baseball data including pitch type, velocity, batted ball location, Read him here, writing about the A's or Giants at The Athletic, or about beer at October.