Jason Heyward Minor League Statistics & History – Baseball-Reference.com.
I’m not really the person to write this; I don’t know a whole lot about prospects, and have only seen him play a couple of times. Suffice it to say, Heyward is a once-in-a-generation prospect, the sort of player every sort of evaluator puts at the top of their lists.
Heyward fell to the fourteenth pick in the first round of the 2007 draft; I don’t really understand why, as even out of high school he wasn’t considered too big of a signability risk. (Admittedly, that was an outstanding draft.) In twelve games in rookie ball, he established himself as a top prospect, hitting .302/.354/.488. He dominated Rome in 2008 — remember, he’s one of the youngest players in every league he’s in — hitting .316/.381/.473. After a brief hiccup in Myrtle Beach to end the season, he torched the place to the tune of .296/.369/.519 to start 2009, then was even better in Mississippi, .352/.446/.611, and finished up going 4-13 in three games in Gwinnett before being shut down with injuries.
Injuries are the only known hole in his armor. He walks nearly as much as he strikes out. He’s hit 29 homers in 1003 career minor league PA, and with 59 doubles shows big-time power potential. He’s a .318 career hitter, a good glove in right (who could probably handle center if necessary) and 26-31 as a basestealer.
There’s a lot to be excited about. At the same time, let’s be careful here. Post-integration, there are only about ten players who have had really great seasons at twenty years old, and actually only about ten more who have had good seasons. Since 1991, the former group includes A-Rod and the latter Justin Upton; that’s about it. If Heyward were to be league average, he would be about as good as Hank Aaron was as a twenty year old.
The way the roster is set up, I’m convinced that the Braves are intending for Heyward to start the year in the lineup, and that he would have to play himself off in spring training. Personally, I’m of the school that says better safe than sorry, and get him some work in at AAA. But when the Braves parted ways with Ryan Church, they pretty much sealed the deal from what I can tell.
I have confidence in the Brave’s judgment. They have been successful in quickly moving prospects up to the majors. McCann and Furcal come to mind. Of course they’ve had some failures too. Francouer and Schafer are the poster boys. Despite what everyone says the Braves should do, I agree with Mac that RF is Heyward’s to lose this spring.
He lasted so long, the story goes, because teams pitched around him so much in his senior year of high school that scouts hardly ever got to see him swing the bat. Some, IIRC, even thought he was “too patient”.
Also, the day Jason Heyward was drafted. Dan, LOL.
Good write-up, Mac.
I was originally in favor of Heyward in right from the outset of the season, but many of the comments on here have swayed me towards the Hanson treatment.
John Sickels had a Q&A the other day and several questions focused on Heyward, some supporting time in AAA.
Q: Is it a good idea to bring pitchers or hitters straight up from Double A?
John Sickels: I think almost all players, both pitchers and hitters, benefit from full seasons in Double-A and at least half a season in Triple-A. There are very few exceptions. The style of play is different. This is something else I will flesh out into a larger article.
Q: Assuming Wieters is still a prospect, who gets top billing: Wieters, Heyward, or Strasburg?
John Sickels: Heyward, Wieters, Strasburg
Q: Assuming they both begin the year in the majors, can you give a guess on the final stats of madison bumgarner and jason heyward?
John Sickels: Heyward….wild-ass guess, i’d say .265/.325/.435 in 2010 with people saying “he sucks!” then he breaks out big in ’11.
Bumgarner: I’d expect a league-average or slightly worse ERA.
I thought he fell because there was a fear that he might go to UCLA to play baseball.
His injuries worry me the most.
5—Nope. He was always considered signable.
I would not be surprised to see the Braves make a deal before or during spring training, which would enable themt to keep Heyward in AAA….
Ok, I don’t know why i thought that. It would make more sense to make a ton of money and get drafted in the first round than it would be to go to UCLA
Thanks for linking the Heyward draft day Stu, that was an entertaining read. I wasn’t on this site back then so it was enjoyable to read what everyone was thinking on that day. I skipped ahead to the game thread too and there was some entertaining stuff, mostly complaining about our middle infielder fetish (after we selected Hicks) and lack of starting pitching depth, my how times have changed.
#2–Probably my favorite day to be on Braves Journal….
2- It’s fun looking back at that thread, Stu.
I was very happy with that pick, but I had no idea it would look this good 2 years later.
Note this quote from Bryan Smith in that thread:
“…and his plate discipline doesn’t mean his bust potential is as high as a lot of prep players.”
This is why I think he puts up average numbers in the Show as a 20-year old, even if he starts the year in Atlanta. He might even OPS+ 110, heavy on the OBP.
I just don’t see the point in rushing Heyward. If he’s truly inner-circle HOF material (which odds are, he’s not), he will be league average this year as a 20-year-old.
I’d gladly give up 2 months of league average ball, to guarantee his Age 26 season is in Atlanta.
I’d gladly give up 2 months of league average ball, to guarantee his Age 26 season is in Atlanta.
Amen. But, then, I’d gladly give up 2 months of MVP-ball for the same.
Stu at 14,
Add the word “chance” and I concur fully. If we KNEW those 60 days would be near mvp level and would not be a vast departure from the rest of the season, I would say it was worth it to bring up Heyward.
But, I agree with Mac. If they really intended to probably hold him down, wouldn’t they have probably made another move? I just don’t see us depending on Infante and Hinske to hold down the fort if we had an injury. We need one more “real” outfielder to be able to make it work in a way that keeps Heyward down (at least for 60 days).
Of course, I don’t think he becomes a free agent any earlier, no matter when he’s brought up this year. It’s just that he’ll cost a whole lot more over the life of his team control if he’s a Super-2 (breaks camp with the Braves) than if he’s not (left in Gwinnett until).
I can’t imagine that the win or two (absolute maximum) Heyward will be good for in April and May would be worth the possible tens of millions of dollars extra he’d cost over the next 6 years.
Really Stu? Even if above average level of play is the difference between the post season and not?
If we KNEW those 60 days would be near mvp level and would not be a vast departure from the rest of the season, I would say it was worth it to bring up Heyward.
Yeah, I disagree with that. I left “chance” out for a reason. I don’t think 2 months of MVP play in 2010 is worth tens of millions of dollars from 2012-2015. (Paging PW…)
Has any player EVER put up MVP-level numbers in his first 60 days in the big leagues as a 20-year-old?
I’m too lazy to look it up, but I’m guessing “No”. Even if somebody comes back and says my guess is wrong, I’m not willing to wager Heyward’s Age 26 season on him doing it.
If you guarantee me a postseason berth with Heyward and guarantee me missing the playoffs without, I’ll spend the extra money. But, seriously, 2 months of Heyward is worth a max — as in, no way he’ll be worth even this much (over his replacement) — of 2 wins, so it’s not worth it, in terms of dollars, unless you’re bringing in playoff revenue which you wouldn’t otherwise get.
Unless I’m wrong. 🙂
I’d like to introduce a new stat called WAM (Wins Above Melky). Basically (as if you can’t figure this out), it’s how many wins a given player will give you above what Melky gives you.
The math behind it is too complex to type here, but I’ll summarize for everyone:
Jason Heyward provides 0.1 WAM in 2010.
That only leaves the question: Is that 0.1 WAM worth Super 2, extra arbitration and one less year of controlled cost to the Atlanta Braves?
I’ll let some of the smarter folks here answer that question.
I would not be surprised to see the Braves make a deal before or during spring training, which would enable themt to keep Heyward in AAA….
So they’ve got Melky, McLouth, and a Diaz/Hinske platoon to start the year with. Twelve man pitching staffs have made fifth outfielders extinct, but there’s always a Gregor Blanco type if they want to do that. Why would they need to make a move?
This also does not compute:
The way the roster is set up, I’m convinced that the Braves are intending for Heyward to start the year in the lineup, and that he would have to play himself off in spring training.
I agree with Stu on this. I also think that they might look to make a move and pick up Johnny D. at a low price, but I doubt that happens.
Didn’t the Braves sign Lance Niekro last year as a knuckleballer? Whatever happened with that idea?
http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/split.cgi?t=b&team=ATL&year=2009
Some interesting stuff looking at the splits from last year. First is the fact that not one single OF position even had an OPS+ of 90. Of course each position had it’s reason’s (GA, Schafer and Frenchy) but kind of makes me think league average in the OF should be considered gold in ATL.
Also we had a 66 OPS+ leading off games. Maybe there would be something to adding Damon at lead off as that’s just awful.
Finally there is a chart on how the offense fared against a SP the 1st time a batterfaced him in a game, 2nd time, 3rd time and 4th+ time and the numbers are 109, 101, 97, 92 respectively. I know this is what we call hibernation mode but that just seems abnormal. Aren’t pitchers supposed to tire as they go through the games? I know there are certain get ’em early or don’t get them pitchers like Glavine used to be but there are also the Chuck James types who are often great through 5 and then lose it. Just found it odd and wonder if (and forgive my ignorance) this is a coaching problem (TP mainly), i.e. not helping the hitters make the proper adjustments. Or maybe it just all falls on the hitters. I looked up a couple of other teams splits (Hou, Lad, Laa and Bos) and mainly their OPS+ trends the opposite way.
Might be a flaw in the approach to the data.
A pitcher you see 3-4 times a game is likely to be a lot better than those you see once or twice.
I was talking about the trend in OPS+.
I missed that HOU, LAD, etc. trend the other way. Maybe, there is something here.
Yeah I thought about that Parish and also, a guy that gets shelled early will yield a high OPS+ on the 1st time facing a batter and may not see them again if he’s yanked, so that’s in there, but I’d think most average guys see everyone about three times in any given game. Another inherent problem with the data is that starters are yanked at random positions through the lineup meaning in a given start, you would often face a team’s 1-5 hitters 3 times and the lower end (6-9) only twice. This should also increase the latter OPS+ one would think.
With or without Damon, I agree that we could make do with Heyward in the minors for 2 months. Dunno if it’ll happen, but that’s what I’d do.
BTW, apparently, last night’s Super Bowl was the most-watched program in television history, breaking the record held by the M*A*S*H* finale.
http://tinyurl.com/yzcxep3
Matty D was a good bit above 100 too… so everybody else was really bringing it down.
I agree that we could make do with Heyward in the minors for 2 months. Dunno if it’ll happen, but that’s what I’d do.
BTW, apparently, last night’s Super Bowl was the most-watched program in television history, breaking the record held by the M*A*S*H* finale.
http://tinyurl.com/yzcxep3
I could see .275. Maybe 1 HR per 30 AB.
Just for fun, these are the guys that were drafted ahead of Heyward in 2007.
1. David Price
2. Mike Moustakas
3. Josh Vitters
4. Daniel Moskos
5. Matt Wieters
6. Ross Detwiler
7. Matt LaPorta
8. Casey Weathers
9. Jarrod Parker
10. Madison Bumgarner
11. Phillippe Aumont
12. Matt Dominguez
13. Beau Mills
Two years later, I wouldn’t trade Heyward for any of those players straight up, and I think only the Orioles would be reluctant to trade their pick for Heyward.
And while some of those picks make sense ahead of Heyward, or made sense at the time, some of them look downright awful today.
Alas, such is the amateur draft.
PW, after seeing the discussion here (I assume) has a timely blog post on the Heyward call-up issue.
Sorry for the doublepost.
Apparently, I’m in the spam-filter matrix.
http://www.baseballprojection.com/2010/standings2010.htm
CHONE projected standings have us as the 4th best team in baseball behind only NYY, BOS and STL.
Check, check—is this mic on?
Most plate appearances in an Age 20 season:
PLATE APPEARANCES YEAR PA
1 Ken Hubbs 1962 715
2 Vada Pinson 1959 706
3 Edgar Renteria 1997 691
4 Robin Yount 1976 690
5 Al Kaline 1955 681
6 Alex Rodriguez 1996 677
7 Frank Robinson 1956 668
8 Ken Griffey Jr. 1990 666
9 Cesar Cedeno 1971 649
10 Orlando Cepeda 1958 644
11 Bob Bailey 1963 640
12 Claudell Washington 1975 635
13 Mickey Mantle 1952 626
14 Butch Wynegar 1976 622
15 Adrian Beltre 1999 614
16 Roberto Alomar 1988 611
17 Johnny Bench 1968 607
18 Eddie Mathews 1952 593
19 Tony Conigliaro 1965 586
20 Ed Kranepool 1965 575
21 Bill Mazeroski 1957 568
22 Rick Manning 1975 535
23 Willie Mays 1951 523
24 Hank Aaron 1954 509
25 Buddy Bell 1972 505
26 Alan Trammell 1978 504
27 Roberto Clemente 1955 501
28 Jack Heidemann 1970 495
29 Eddie Yost 1947 485
30 Clint Hurdle 1978 481
31 Tony Kubek 1957 475
32 Andruw Jones 1997 467
33 Curt Flood 1958 461
34 Ivan Rodriguez 1992 454
T35 Boog Powell 1962 441
T35 Joe Torre 1961 441
37 Lloyd Moseby 1980 430
38 Justin Upton 2008 417
39 Ruben Sierra 1986 411
40 Gary Sheffield 1989 405
Basically, if you can hold your own in the majors at 20, that’s a pretty good sign that you’re going to be an outstanding player, and a fair chunk of these guys are Hall of Famers… The top two are weird. I seriously doubt that Hubbs would have been a Hall of Famer, and playing him was just one of those weird things that the Cubs did. Pinson wasn’t really twenty.
Finally, the spam filter is blocking the annoyingly informative, insightful, and civil ububba.
Just read PWHjort’s post. Hard to argue with that analysis. I still say that Heyward starts the season in Atlanta, but now I’ve wavered on whether its the right thing to do. It pretty simplistic of me to say that Brave’s management has an obligation to field the best team it can and I think that the best team is one with Heyward starting in RF. But yeah the service time implications and dollar implications are big.
All this talk could be moot though. There are a lot more Andy Marte’s out there than Chipper Jones.
I’m full-on poison!
Paragraph full of win (as they say here on the internets):
oh, and shhhh, nobody tell ububba we can see his posts.
Now you can.
Met-Thrashing Alert
Here’s something I tried to post a week ago before I scooted off into vacationland.
It’s a WFAN radio interview with Ken Rosenthal, who describes some of the Mets’ internal dysfunction.
http://tinyurl.com/y99k9e3
Yanks sign Marcus Thames. JD’s gotta be really sweating now. Rays, Braves, and Tigers left Iguess.
I like this comment from Bill Ballew on Talking Chop. I hope it’s true.
“Freddie Freeman’s approach at the plate, his ability and desire to drive in runs, and his tremendous defense at first base bode well for his future at the game’s top level. He is a very polished player with an ideal body for a major league first baseman and he will continue to hit for additional power as he matures. Like Heyward, he’s only 20, and will not turn 21 until September. Other than Heyward, Freeman is as close to a sure thing as the Braves have had since Chipper Jones and Andruw Jones in the mid-1990s.”
WAG on Freeman: Wally Joyner. That’s not a bad thing.
I was at the game where Thames had his first ML at-bat. He hit a HR off Randy Johnson.
Which group of Braves should I go see on Thursday?
(25 minute drive)
Brian McCann
Mike Dunn
Lee Hyde
Craig Kimbrel
Kurt Kemp
Brian Snitker
or
(Hour drive)
Yunel Escobar
Tommy Hanson
Todd Redmond
Matt Diaz
Eddie Perez
gotta be group 2.
49,
Whichever autograph you want the most. If you’re uninterested in autographs, Yunel can’t really speak English, and I’d rather speak with Brian McCann, Michael Dunn, Lee Hyde, and Craig Kimbrel than Hanson, Redmond, Diaz, and EP.
Actually, Yunel can speak English, but won’t.
I’m not really into autographs. I’m fairly fluent in Spanish, so I could converse with Yunel. I’d love to meet McCann but I’d also love to meet Hanson, Diaz, and Escobar as well. Driving to Spartanburg would not be particularly fun though.
Escobar and McCann are going to be amazed at meeting some starstruck South Carolina rednecks.
The only kind of complete bat I can remember seeing come up through the minors like Heyward since Cox/Schuerholz took over has been Chipper. And if you go look at it, they gave Chipper 500 at bats in AAA during his age 21 season.
I guess you could reference AJ, but I think he was there as much for his defense than than any offense. Also, he signed a lot younger.
I will say though, if Heyward had been brought into the organization at 16 like we do with some Latin prospects, he’d probably be in the majors by now. Looking back on the scouting reports of his patience/getting treated like Barry Bonds, its clear to see he deserved better competition during his final two years of high school.
I have to disagree with Mac on one thing: Heyward isn’t a “once in a generation”-type prospect. He’s certainly a top guy, but I don’t know that he’s necessarily worlds better than some #1 prospects of recent memory. Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised at this point if he turned into a .285/.350/.480 type player. Which wouldn’t be world-beating, but would still be a fine line for a RF who’s got a good glove. There’s plenty of upside, don’t get me wrong, but let’s not start thinking of this guy as the next Chipper Jones.
I know optimism is perennially brimming this time of year, but it sure feels like the next few years are going to be a lot of fun.
Great write up, Mac. Made me excited all over again about seeing Heyward play in Atlanta (though I can wait till June-July if I have to).
Hanson + Heyward = Gooden + Strawberry?
Mraver – I have seen a lot of Braves’ major leaguers and farmhands, and I have to say that over the last season and a half, Heyward has looked like the best pure hitter to come through the system since Chipper.
I know it’s a lot of hype, but it’s warranted.
Sounded a little arrogant. Wish I could edit from my Blackberry.
I know a lot of us have seen a lot of the Braves’ talent.
To me, my experienced, albeit untrained eye, Heyward really seems like the surest thing I’ve seen in a long, long time.
ububba,
The MD for “American Idiot” got back to me and says it’ll be near impossible to get tickets to opening, simply because there are so many people involved and all of them have been given comps.
I saw a 30 second preview the other day and I honestly can’t tell if it’s going to be awesome or totally uninteresting.
How about, Hanson + Heyward = Gooden + Strawberry – Cocaine?
Rob,
Figured. It was for a co-worker who’s been a big help to me. Thanks for the effort.
AAR,
Minus the blow, include the rings?
@49 sdp
I talked with Eddie Perez for 20 minutes during Spring Training 2000. I wish it had been longer.
He’d be worth the ride, if just to ask about Maddux.
How in the world does my man Buster rank the White Sox’ and Cardinals’ rotations ahead of the Braves’?
The Mets are lowering their CF wall from 16 feet to 8 feet.
Stu, I feel your pain. Reading his writeup of the #5 team just makes me think of Simmons — “Penny! Lohse! Your 2010 It’s the 2010 St. Louis Cardinals, only on Fox!”
Ububba, that sounds like something I could get behind.
Parish – I remember seeing Chipper Jones playing in a minor league game and being totally disappointed and unimpressed. Your untrained eye is probably a lot better than mine.
I remember seeing Dale Murphy (for the Savannah Braves) play a few Double-A games vs. the Columbus Astros—as a catcher.
I was only about 12 at the time, but I recall thinking how gawky & awkward he looked.
Was more impressed by an OF named Larry Whisenton, one of those slasher/speed guys who neither hit nor stole bases in The Show.
DOB says that Melky is the only Brave on the 40-man who is out of options. I thought for sure Jo-Jo was though. He played in both the majors and minors in each of the 2007-2009 seasons. Could it be that one of those years he started in the minors and was called up for good without being sent down? Does that not count as an option year?
Edit: Just read the read of DOB’s post where he answers that it wouldn’t count as an option year in that scenario so maybe Jo-Jo isn’t out of options.
I saw Chipper in a lot of AA games when they came to Chattanooga. They had a great team. However, it was obvious Chipper was born to play third base.
Dusty,
I saw that too. He was the only one I felt pretty sure had to be out of options. So, that changes my “roster construction” ideas because I had assumed he had to start at ML level.
Now I think because Jo Jo is our #7 starter, he needs to start at AAA as a starter so that he is “stretched out.”
Our Braves caravan sucks: Jo-Jo, Mike Minor, the assistant GM, the G-Braves manager and Otis Nixon.
Smitty – that’s one heck of a caravan lineup. Do you think there’s any chance they could get a really big name – like Manny Acosta or Gregor Blanco?
If the Braves are planning to ‘buy out’ some of Heyward’s Arb/FA years like the Rays did with their guy (who’s name escapes me at the moment – their third baseman-damn it sucks getting old), then does it really matter if JH starts at Gwinnett or Atlanta?
Longoria, that’s it Evan Longoria. How could I have to look that name up? Sheesh…
If the Braves are planning to ‘buy out’ some of Heyward’s Arb/FA years like the Rays did with their guy (who’s name escapes me at the moment – their third baseman-damn it sucks getting old), then does it really matter if JH starts at Gwinnett or Atlanta?
Yes. If Heyward’s agent knows he’s in line to be a Super-2, he knows he can ask for more money from the Braves.
Smitty
DOB said that Jordan Schafer was added to the Chattanooga caravan stop since he missed a couple he was scheduled for earlier. Not sure how solid that is but it came from him on his blog.
@77
Yes, but the Braves could also counter the agent by saying well, we’ll just start Jason at Gwinnett for 2-3 months. Let’s just come to an agreement now and get him up where he can help everybody out.
The Rays didn’t do that deal with Longoria prior to his MLB debut.
@79
Im not sure I want to commit a bunch of money to a guy who has zero AB’s at the major league level.
@78
What? Was David Ross or Glen Hubbard’s wife not available?
WFAN is a treat today.
Now that football’s finished, it’s all-Mets all the time, which is to say that the radio program is entertaining a cavalcade of deeply delusional or desperately angry calls. Very amusing.
For those interested, it’s simulcast on their site:
http://www.wfan.com
Ibelieve it was close to it though, as the Rays did the Longoria extension about two weeks into his first full year up. So yeah, Longoria had made his ML debut, but he hadn’t put in much time at all.
My point however is – that if the Braves are thinking of trying to contract away some of Heyward’s arb time (like I think they did with McCann, right?), then I expect Heyward to start on Opening Day.
Yeah, I thought Longoria had spent a little bit more time in the Majors prior to that extension. It looks like it was actually only 6 days after his debut that he signed the deal.
No way Heyward would sign such a team-friendly deal, but I get your point.
Why is there no chance Heyward signs that deal though? Longoria may not have been quite as highly rated, and he was a few years older as a rookie, but he still would have made huge numbers in arb. It’s not out of the realm of possibility that Heyward signs long term with Atlanta before he reaches arbitration status.
I didn’t say Heyward wouldn’t sign a deal; I said any deal he signs won’t be as team-friendly as Longoria’s was.
And, if you don’t call him up until June, you’ll be able to negotiate a cheaper deal. That’s all I’m saying.
Understood Stu, but if the Braves view Heyward as the Face Of The Franchise for the next 15 years, then it certainly wouldn’t hurt in the long(er, or even -est) term to make sure he’s happy with the franchise. He might, being a local product and all, be willing to give the Braves a discount in the future, if the Braves show him they’re willing to act in HIS interest.
Or, he may not. But, I, for one, if I were angling to tie up his arb years, be willing to compromise and NOT stand in the way of him getting Super Two status – with a view toward a contract extension that prevents him ever getting a Ryan Howard/Tim Lincecum type arb award.
I would compromise if I thought it would engender good will (not just the feeling, but a tangible, monetary evidence of it), sure. No idea if that’s the case, though.
I just read the new bowman mailbag, and he provided me at least reason to believe that he’s a lousy writer.
@89
Nice catch on Bowman’s “reason to wonder/believe” statements
EDIT: Stu covered it. So…excellent post, Stu. 🙂
My point wasn’t that Heyward’s not a great prospect; he is. But that doesn’t mean he’ll have the career Chipper had. Putting anything near those kind of expectations on him is a bad idea.
That said, “engender” is a funny word.
I believe Keith Law set a record last week for the nerdiest Mets insult ever:
(For all the rubes like me who don’t know what that is, Wikipedia tells us that the Riemann hypothesis “is a conjecture about the distribution of the zeros of the Riemann zeta-function which states that all non-trivial zeros of the Riemann zeta function have real part 1/2,” and “it is considered by some mathematicians to be the most important unresolved problem in pure mathematics.”
So, in other words, the Mets’ stupid decisions this offseason are even more inexplicable than the hardest problem in math. You’re welcome.)
Thanks for down-talking the whole forum dude. Like we don’t understand number theory or something.
Dusty, I too thought that Jo-Jo Reyes was out of options but apparently he has one left.
Reyes was called up in 2007 but was never sent back down and options are confusing to say the least. Generally speaking there are three option years but in certain cases some players may have four. Reyes has used two (2008-2009).
At any rate it’s good news as the Braves have little reliable depth available if one of their starting five goes down.
http://www.bizofbaseball.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=655&Itemid=75
@93
I am mad at myself that I understood the statement before the explanation. I really need to get out of this office more.
on a side note.. big bang theory is a very interesting and funny show. Especially when you daily deal with people in those professions.
Concerning Jason Heyward. There have been exactly two Braves position players who have any reasonable amount of success in the big leagues at the age of 20. Bob Horner in 1978 and Andruw Jones in 1997.
That’s covering 44 years of Braves baseball in Atlanta, but like the scouts have already said when asked what’s wrong or lacking with Jason Heyward they replied…..nothing.
Songs-That-Make-You-Murder Dept.
I would’ve figured it was “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” or “Don’t Stop Believin’.”
http://tinyurl.com/ye9wepq
To reinforce what Coach said, the next-best year by a twenty year old in Atlanta history was the legendary Bob Didier in 1969, when he hit .256/.321/.307 (77 OPS+). This is everybody with at least one run created at 20 for the Braves since 1966:
RUNS CREATED RC PA
T1 Bob Horner 54 359
T1 Andruw Jones 54 467
3 Bob Didier 35 397
4 Glenn Hubbard 16 179
T5 Dale Murphy 8 72
T5 Rod Gilbreath 8 82
7 Remy Hermoso 3 28
8 Melvin Nieves 2 21
9 Mike McQueen 1 21
UBubba, that song has made me if not homicidal, at least prone to assault.
I prefer the Sid Vicious version myself.
I don’t think the Braves will make Heyward an offer until after he has completed a year of solid production in Atlanta.
I think he would get a little more guaranteed than Longoria and I think he will take it.
Thank god Frenchy didn’t.
Looks like the Telegraph basically cribbed that from a New York Times piece a couple days before.
I prefer the Sid Vicious version myself.
And look what happened to him!
‘Mac Thomason Says:
To reinforce what Coach said’
Holy shit, I better see if a meteor is coming.
A meteor??? Break out the Bud Lite!!!
He happened to be correct on this occasion.
Can you say “bitch slap”?
UT is getting it handed to them by Vandy.
Of course, if Cousins does what Ogilvy does, Cousins gets arrested.
What’s the free throw disparity at halftime?
89,
This quote isn’t from the most recent one, it’s from the one before that, but it irked me quite a bit:
Because Escobar has hit .337 in his career with runners in scoring position, it is hard to [bat him first and] take him away from a slot where he can drive in runs.
Either a) he’s been covering baseball for god knows how long and he still doesn’t know that hitting with runners in scoring position isn’t a repeatable skill or b) he does know that, but he’d rather just encourage ignorance.
Smitty put the beer away, apparently God is going to freeze my ass to death before he ends it quickly with a meteor.
102 – You know Spike this is one time greed worked in the Braves favor. Can you imagine being saddled with Francouer on a long term contract? I’d probably pray for a meteor.
PW, I’m not a Bowman fan. But in this case it appears that he was trying to deflate that straw man, not advocate it. The full paragraph is as follows:
That’s fair, and I guess that’s sort of necessary considering his audience.
I reckon I’m more disturbed that beat writers still have to say that sort of thing.
For the record, I don’t really mind Bowman. He seems to usually just spit out whatever the front office tells him to, which is acceptable for a beat writer, I guess. I’m much more hostile towards the hack AJC columnists that try to pass their mindless dribble off as analysis.
111, Atlanta was rumored to have offered the same contract to Francoeur that they gave to McCann. He turned it down.
Can you imagine the mess the Braves would be in right now if Francoeur had signed that contract?
Speaking of hack writers at the AJC…this dude is pulling another Deja Vu, ala Ken Griffy Jr.
http://www.ajc.com/sports/atlanta-braves/damon-braves-are-at-295483.html
Yay, I have just subscribed for MLB.TV premium. Now the season can start!!