How Jason Heyward is Planning on Becoming an Offensive Force
When you point towards a poor area or weakness of a team that won 103 regular season games, and a World Series, you can come off disingenuous. However that may come off, 2016 certainly wasn’t exactly how Jason Heyward envisioned when he signed a seven year, $184 million deal almost a year ago, last December.
Jason was coming off a career year, but one which wouldn’t cause worry for a team looking to sign a player to a long term deal. At just 26 years old, and having played in the league for six years, Jason had proved that he was the best defensive outfielder in the game. His 2015 season in St. Louis proved his offense was finally catching up to his perceived potential, and he was living up to his five-tool reputation.
But once he came to Chicago there was an attempt to tap into the power his tall impressive frame should possess. Cubs hitting coach, John Mallee, added a toe tap to help Jason Heyward with timing issues – particularly inside plus fastballs, which he notoriously struggled with. Perhaps part of Jason’s struggles offensively are because he so often changes his swing, as Sports Illustrated’s Tom Verducci suggested early in 2016.
While most major leaguers tweak from season-to-season, most don’t completely change their swings and continue to have success. Perhaps the only hitter I can think of that could change their approach (sometimes within a game) was Cal Ripken jr. As Cal’s brother Billy Ripken has mentioned in his instructional videos, as well as on MLB Network, Cal would change his stance and approach often, and typically see immediate positive results.
Heyward doesn’t appear to be the type that can change and continue to succeed. If I were to guess as to why – leaning on Verducci’s assessment, the eye test, and personal knowledge of hitting – Heyward has a tremendous timing issue. Hitting, as hard as it is, simply comes down to a having a positive mentality, timing and ability to square two round objects up.
Heyward has shown he can hit the ball, having struck out more than 100 times only twice in his career. This tells me it is mental and timing, and luckily for all parties these are both correctable.
When looking at Jason’s numbers I gravitate towards his numbers late in games. When you look at the ninth inning (and later) he hit .450/.490/.600. These are phenomenal numbers, and they come at a time when either the pressure is off, or a professional hitter minimizes what they are doing or looming for. This is typically a time a player doesn’t allow additional thought enter their minds. They aren’t thinking about making good on a new contract, they aren’t thinking about the double play they hit into earlier, and they aren’t thinking about the fans booing. Instead, they think one pitch, one quadrant, or completely freeing their mind of all thought.
Also, don’t underestimate how much a big contract weighs on a player and their performance. Don’t underestimate the player’s want to perform for his new fan base. Look at the performances of guys like Zack Greinke, Albert Pujols, David Price, Matt Kemp, and even Chicago’s Jon Lester. There is a ton of pressure on these guys to come in and make a difference, and especially if they start rough, that pressure is multiplied ten fold.
All of this weighs on players mentally, and hopefully being in Chicago for a year, winning a championship, and going into 2017 without the pressures of a 184 million bucks resting on his shoulders. One would think that Jason would come into 2017 in a good mental place.
With mentality hopefully checked off the list, the main obstacle left would be sorting his swing and timing.
This is why Jason has purchased a home in Arizona. He is going to work with Eric Hinske and Mallee all throughout the offseason. They will break things down, and like Jed Hoyer mentioned on 670 AM The Score’s Spiegel and Goff show, getting Jason back to doing things he’s done in the league before.
Jason Heyward is working on his swing in Arizona with Eric Hinske this offseason, and John Mallee has been flying down there too.
— 670 The Score (@670TheScore) December 9, 2016
The important piece is repeating the positive things they work on over and over. This is exactly why moving to Arizona should prove to be a hugely successful part in the improvements in Heyward’s 2017 season, and I expect those improvements to be huge.
Not only will this time help Jason get back to hitting for a better average (had a career .265 avg before last season) and certainly finding his power stroke (hit 27 homers in 2015). Timing and repetition is everything in hitting a baseball. This is why guys like Carlos Pena have said they wished they spent more time working on timing, and not as much time on mechanics. If a major leaguer can properly time their bat to meet a ball at a certain point, they have a greater ability to drive a ball with authority.
If you are a fan that will only judge the signing of Jason Heyward on the 2016 results, well you have a warped sense of value since he helped the Cubs win the World Series for the first time in 108 years, but there are six other years left on that deal. If you really wanted to judge the player, do so after several seasons and not after one in which most others struggle through as well.
