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 Chicago Cubs already boasted one of the best young . Games, Puzzles, and Crossword. Signup . Sadly, the only skill that Heyward hasnt displayed during his bright, brief career is health. Aggravating as it might be, we dont know the answers to those questions. 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. Jason Heyward Powers Down | RotoGraphs Fantasy Baseball He started 13 games there in 2021 and six last season, but John Schneider is expecting more of a 50-50 split for Biggio between the infield and outfield this season, adding that hell play a ton of outfield. As expected, their value on defense drops over the next ten years, but a curious thing has happened to their offensive numbers simultaneously. Sources - Fangraphs, Baseball Savant, MLB.com, Baseball Reference. Jason Alias Heyward (born August 9, 1989), nicknamed " J-Hey " is an American professional baseball right fielder for the Los Angeles Dodgers organization. Its ever so early, but it seems like he could be working on that. 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 chart below shows the varying WAR averages from above for Jason Heyward comps at age-26 through age-30, as well as 26-35. Jason Heyward Statcast, Visuals & Advanced Metrics | MLB.com 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). Follow him on Twitter @jeffwzimmerman. Updated: Saturday, March 4, 2023 4:51 PM ET, Park Factors . 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. Why Jason Heyward's New $184 Million Contract Is A Steal All Win Expectancy, Leverage Index, Run Expectancy, and Fans Scouting Report data licenced from TangoTiger.com. 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. Gomber is working on a two-seam, sinking fastball that he hopes will work at altitude. Last year he hit for almost zero power, and his grounder pull rate went from 68% to 43%. FanGraphs Membership. There are few who doubt that, after finishing up his sixth season in Major League Baseball, Jason Heyward is a good player. Kiner-Falefa had a slash line of .261/.314/.327 . A few trade pickups last year are rated highly in 2023. 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. The chart below shows the varying WAR averages from above for Jason Heyward comps at age-26 through age-30, as well as 26-35. 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. For the first method, we assume the only information we know is age, WAR, and total number of plate appearances. Gallo got the upper hand on the Red Sox in his second inning at-bat, drawing a walk to nullify Boston's shift. Now, Heyward has an extended history of making various adjustments underneath, he hasnt been that static. Jason Heyward as Mike Trout | FanGraphs Baseball 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 It would be a tragedy if nagging injuries keep him from playing to his full potential. It happens. Support FanGraphs. All of this he managed while only stealing 21 bases. Major League and Minor League Baseball data provided by Major League Baseball. That was awesome, Kapler said. Updated: Saturday, March 4, 2023 4:51 PM ET, Park Factors Notes: PitchCom, Jason Heyward, cold weather Dodgers pitchers are hesitant to use the PitchCom device to call their own pitches. Play-by-play data prior to 2002 was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted 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. ACME Sports | MLB Players are always free to change their minds about anything. The Dodgers lost their starting shortstop for the entirety of the 2023 season in the third game of spring training. 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. Major League and Minor League Baseball data provided by Major League Baseball. by Handedness, swung at more pitches thrown outside of the strike zone. What follows is going to lean upon some spring-training data. I think thats in the ballpark. 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. Hes forever been a work in progress, so maybe hed change his focus on a whim. Apparently the Dodgers will do anything to keep James Outman on the farm. 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. Its really impressive to see a guy go out there and throw a ton of strikes and throw strikes with his offspeed pitches. "I've talked . 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. It was a true comfort level, not rattled at all. Oliver: .273/.367/.475, 19 HR Yet, its difficult to project just how hell play during the rest of the season. FanGraphs Mugs. Jacoby Ellsbury just finished Year Two of his contract. Age is the decisive factor here. Reported as the pre-2023 season number of waiver options remaining. by Retrosheet. This figure is not a conclusory number or necessarily the best way for projections, but simply another method in the attempt to find a likely value for Jason Heyward. Los Angeles Dodgers: 2023 Season Prediction - MyBookie To me, that looks light, and as a huge Heyward fan I am doing my best in putting that out there without bias. Even if Heyward were to hit for more power, that might be offset by a drop in singles, or by an increase in strikeouts. 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. Going solely by offense, this group has a total bust rate of one in three. The games, as you well know, havent mattered yet. Heaney added that, in the regular season, he probably wouldnt have thrown that pitch in that situation. All major league baseball data including pitch type, velocity, batted ball location, Service Time : Reported as the pre-2022 value. Potential Dodgers shortstop options after Gavin Lux's ACL Injury Ground balls are a function of the swings, and consider Xander Bogaerts. So how did he end up with some of the best non-stolen-base baserunning numbers in the game? ESPN, FanGraphs, MLB Pipeline . With a phone full of pictures of pitchers' fingers, strange beers, and his two toddler sons, Eno Sarris can be found at the ballpark or a brewery most days. Major League and Minor League Baseball data provided by Major League Baseball. and play-by-play data provided by Sports Info Solutions. How many hitters (much less 21-year-old hitters) could manage a league-average batting line in the majors while injured and watching so many balls put in play gravitate toward gloves? Updated: Saturday, March 4, 2023 4:51 PM ET, Park Factors Updated: Saturday, March 4, 2023 4:51 PM ET, Park Factors There are two graphs below estimating the value of Heywards comps over the next ten years. Mike Trout represented, perhaps, a belief that we could quantify the other aspects of the game and assign them value. Its not that he cant hit the ball out to all fields, but his career-best homer rate is to the pull side. His average ranking is 7.5. While the $330 million figure is likely the one that jumps out, I would direct your attention to the smallest number: $159 million. and play-by-play data provided by Sports Info Solutions. Players who rove around the outfield will qualify at the specific outfield position where he played the most innings provided it was a minimum of 75 percent (475 innings) of total innings at the specific position. Progress report: Chicago Cubs - The San Diego Union-Tribune Reported as the pre-2023 season number of waiver options remaining. Braves news: Surprise candidate emerges for potential rotation spot I looked through age 25, but lacking enough comps, expanded the age range to 26 years old. Latest News/Blog Posts about Jason Heyward. Historically, Heyward has pulled just over half his grounders. All Win Expectancy, Leverage Index, Run Expectancy, and Fans Scouting Report data licenced from TangoTiger.com. Major League and Minor League Baseball data provided by Major League Baseball. Making Too Much of Too Little Jason Heyward | FanGraphs Baseball All major league baseball data including pitch type, velocity, batted ball location, Free agent Jason Heyward agreed to a $184 million, eight-year contract with the Cubs, according to a person familiar with the negotiations. 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 Cavan Biggio will play half his games in the outfield. Dodgers spring training: Freddie Freeman homers, Miguel Vargas walks Maybe Heyward just belongs in that 110 120 range of wRC+. 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 major league baseball data including pitch type, velocity, batted ball location, Jason Heyward, The Next Great Free Agent | FanGraphs Membership When signing long-term contracts, teams tend to pay them out equally over the length of the contract. All major league baseball data including pitch type, velocity, batted ball location, Massive crying face emoji. All Win Expectancy, Leverage Index, Run Expectancy, and Fans Scouting Report data licenced from TangoTiger.com. With such an advanced plate approach and gargantuan numbers in the minors (he slashed .323/.408/.555 while rising from High-A to Triple-A as a teenager in 2009), Heyward reached the show years before most hitters do. Id imagine all those infield popups are at least partly due to his bum shoulder. All major league baseball data including pitch type, velocity, batted ball location, His BABIP this season is .256, while his expected BABIP sits around .315. Mining the News (3/2/23) | RotoGraphs Fantasy Baseball 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. Follow him on Twitter @enosarris if you can handle the sandwiches and inanity.