Heyward

[WraithSentinel]

I am just curious what is everyone thought on him?

I know he is still young. I am no longer viewing him as a franchise/core type of player as I once did. Probably more as a complimentary type of player. I just don't see him as that player we thought he might have been.

[ATLHawks3]

He has 4 out of 5 tools: SPEED, POWER, ARM, and DEFENSE. He just needs to learn to put all of them together and develop his swing more. If he does, he could be a 40-40 player..

[jhay610]

I've lowered my expectations quite a bit. Dude could still be solid for many years, but the bar was set super-high when he came up. The 3 run bomb in his first AB will always be a Great Braves Moment, however.

[AHawks89]

He's starting to catch fire now. He's been having a great month, but now he's injured again. We have so many injuries limping in to All Star break.

[WraithSentinel]

There is def nothing wrong with Heyward defense. Amazing catch he made tonight to help secure the win.

[macdaddy]

He's still young. I think he'll be an all-star in future. That catch was amazing. First day off the DL.

[AHawks89]

We need to keep Heyward in CF. He's our only outfielder who actually cares and covers a lot of range. The Upton brothers seem like they don't give a damn about defense 80% of the time, and that other 20% doesn't even matter because they're not as good defensively like Heyward is. Keep Heyward in CF, put Justin in LF, and trade BJ for a bag of chips.

[macdaddy]

We need to keep Heyward in CF. He's our only outfielder who actually cares and covers a lot of range. The Upton brothers seem like they don't give a damn about defense 80% of the time, and that other 20% doesn't even matter because they're not as good defensively like Heyward is. Keep Heyward in CF, put Justin in LF, and trade BJ for a bag of chips.

I haven't seen a ton but i felt BJ was pretty good. I'd be concerned that Heyward will hurt himself in center but that catch was great.

Is Schafer coming back? I'd be happy with Schafer as starting CF

[benhillboy]

I've given up on him being a perennial All-Star type. His approach at the plate simply isn't good enough with too many holes.

[AHawks89]

Heyward needs to get closer to the plate.

[AHF]

I am probably going to cut him in my keeper auction fantasy baseball league because I just don't have enough faith in him becoming a top OF at the plate. I have owned him for 5 years now and have only gotten a profit in terms of cost and value in 2 of those 5 years. Ironically, I have both him and Justin Upton on the team and the results have been similarly inconsistent (although Upton has been a better value overall).

[frosgrim]

Heyward has to rebuild his swing. That bounce thing he does is horrible. The key to hitting is to see the ball. With that bounce, he's changing his eye level constantly. Eliminate the bounce and see a BA bounce. Those holes we see in his swing will also get smaller. If he doesn't do that, then he'll hit ~.250 with 20 HR a year.

In terms of Schafer, he has a foot fracture so probably another 3 weeks.

[benhillboy]

Heyward has to rebuild his swing. That bounce thing he does is horrible. The key to hitting is to see the ball. With that bounce, he's changing his eye level constantly. Eliminate the bounce and see a BA bounce. Those holes we see in his swing will also get smaller. If he doesn't do that, then he'll hit ~.250 with 20 HR a year. In terms of Schafer, he has a foot fracture so probably another 3 weeks.

True. You would think his hitting coaches would've broken that bounce by now. It's usually the pitchers job to change the hitter's eye level. With Heyward, their job is halfway done already. Just locate and he'll be nowhere near the pitch. I've personally seen enough of his unproductive outs. He'd be long gone if he wasn't a Gold Glove Candidate every year.

[WraithSentinel]

A new hitting coach should be priority #1 once the Braves season is over with.

[KB21]

A new hitting coach should be priority #1 once the Braves season is over with.

The Braves don't need a new hitting coach, and Jason Heyward doesn't need to rebuild his swing. Jason right now is having one of the unluckiest seasons a hitter could have. He has a career high line drive percentage, but his BABIP is at a career low. This past month, his BABIP was .330, and his numbers responded by posting an 0.863 OPS in that month with a 0.183 ISO.

[ATLHawks3]

He needs to rebuild that swing...

[frosgrim]

The Braves don't need a new hitting coach, and Jason Heyward doesn't need to rebuild his swing. Jason right now is having one of the unluckiest seasons a hitter could have. He has a career high line drive percentage, but his BABIP is at a career low. This past month, his BABIP was .330, and his numbers responded by posting an 0.863 OPS in that month with a 0.183 ISO.

Actually, I think Heyward agrees with my assessment. His bounce is noticeably decreased over the past week. He's also a little more straight up in the box now. He's also stating to get hits. The numbers can be suggestive, but you do have the subjective observation as an important indicator of how well a guy is setting himself up to get hits. Bouncing before the pitch is not a good approach to hitting.

In terms of a new hitting coach, I would say no to that. Walker is obviously working with Heyward and the Uptons to simplify their mechanics. Less moving parts means less to go wrong. The consistent hitters all have very simple swings and timing devices. Heyward appears to be on the way to getting there. Justin already said he's simplifying his swing under Walker's guidance.

[WraithSentinel]

One thing is for certain. It is looking like Heyward should remain in the leadoff spot in the line-up.

[ATLHawks3]

This is the best line up that we've had all year.

[KB21]

Heyward is doing what he has done all year long. The difference his, over the past 13 games, he has a BABIP of .320 whereas previously he had a BABIP of .260. Those line drives that were going right at someone are falling in now.