I like Gold Gloves and I cannot lie: the Jason Heyward thread

[David]

who fucked up sometime after 2:30 yesterday?

[Derwood]

Are we gonna have to limit the MODS allowed to RETITLE threads now?

 

Yes, I think that's wise

[biittner77]

Are we gonna have to limit the MODS allowed to RETITLE threads now?

 

Yes, I think that's wise

 

There's still a few more I'd like to see:

 

"Jason Heyward doesn't care that Tree hates him more than cancer"

 

"Jason Heyward: chicken salad"

 

"Jason Heyward will stop being Todd Hundley"

[wade]

This will draw me out on the dance floor after being a wallflower for 5 years.

 

I think Heyward will bounce back at the plate this year. First, he almost has to- he could hardly have a worse year than last season. But, I also think the changes in his swing mechanics were absolutely necessary for him to be more productive. The following is my opinion, based on my personal understanding of a good, fundamental baseball swing. (If you want to skip the rest, just know that I think he will be quicker to the ball and actually be able to hit for more power this year)

 

There are two main camps of hitting mechanics instruction. They are rotational and linear. Some popular proponents of each believe that the other is totally wrong. However, the best hitting coaches use components of both hitting philosophies and don't try to put every athlete into the same cookie-cutter methodology.

 

Heyward, according to what I've seen on video, has always be a very rotational hitter. That's not always a bad thing. Ted Williams was a pretty decent hitter, and he is a rotational poster boy. But it looks like, especially this past season, Heyward got "too rotational". The Sean Casey analysis was very good- Heyward hardly off got off his backside last year and to compensate, sped up his hands. If you rotate too much on your backside, you lose power. You can also end up with a longer path to contact. Heyward's swing last year was very long to the ball and short through it. You want the opposite.

 

And that's what it looks like he's working on in these new videos. Like Casey said, he's now making a bit of a linear (Casey didn't use that word, but that's what he's doing) move toward the pitcher and getting off his back side. Now, he still needs to keep his head behind the ball and rotate against his front leg, and his changes seem to be helping him with that. In other words, you can't ONLY laterally shift your weight, you still rotate. Again, I agree with what Casey said in his video, and I think this change will give him more power. Power that he should have, since he is built like Jack Reacher (book version, not Tom Cruise)

 

The other thing his new swing has that's different is a quicker path to the ball. Casey didn't mention this, but I'm sure he'd agree with me (haha).

 

Last year, Heyward let the bat wrap back around his head during his load. This meant he had to swing it way back around to get to contact. Sometimes players will do this in a misguided attempt to get more power. He's now (at least in that workout video) keeping the barrel more upright during his load and therefore will have a much quicker and shorter swing to the ball, as well as being longer through the zone, as his extension should now come after contact, whereas before he'd sometimes be fully extended at contact with the ball, which is a much weaker position.

 

The other benefit of being quick to the ball is that you have an additional couple of split seconds to judge a pitch. Doesn't sound like much, but for these guys, that's gold, both with pitch recognition and having power to all fields because you can "let it travel" a little deeper.

 

There you have it. He can print this out and put it next to his comeback player of the year award in 8 months.

[Omar]

Tim Tebow has a better swing than Jason Heyward.

[wade]

 

There may be a more recent analysis of Tebow's swing, but it's pretty bad in the video above. And, what's interesting to me, is that it looks a lot like Heyward's from last year. Spinning on his back foot, fully extended arms at contact instead of after, and the bat wrapped back around his head during his load.

 

Just about everything that the guy doing the analysis points out in Donaldson's swing appears to be the exact changes that Heyward is working on.

 

I'd love to see something recent regarding Tebow and see if he's making changes as well.

[jersey cubs fan]

I'd love to see something recent regarding Tebow

 

that makes one of us

[biittner77]

I'd like to see Tebow make the Mets roster and hit around .265 with about maybe 18 HRs. That would put him squarely in the middle of people with nothing better to do getting bent out of shape over whether or not he's any good. I'm also fine with never hearing about him again.

[Banedon]

I would not like Tebow to have any kind of success....certainly not 18 HR's worth of it.

[Sammy Sofa]

Tebow hitting .265 and 18 HR in the majors wouldn't be "in the middle;" it would be an astonishing level of success in the sport that he will never, never, never accomplish. Edited March 1, 2017 by Sammy Sofa

[jersey cubs fan]

I'd like to see Tebow make the Mets roster and hit around .265 with about maybe 18 HRs. That would put him squarely in the middle of people with nothing better to do getting bent out of shape over whether or not he's any good. I'm also fine with never hearing about him again.

squarely in the middle of what?

 

that'd be an amazing accomplishment by him.

[David]

I'd like to see Tebow make the Mets roster and hit around .265 with about maybe 18 HRs. That would put him squarely in the middle of people with nothing better to do getting bent out of shape over whether or not he's any good. I'm also fine with never hearing about him again.

squarely in the middle of what?

 

that'd be an amazing accomplishment by him.

 

Yah what? That'd be a dream outcome for him.

[Clem Fandango]

I hope he's 2009 Rick Ankiel.

[Tracer Bullet]

I hope he's 2009 Rick Ankiel.

 

I hope he's (name of some AA/AAA player who's never sniffed the majors)

[Ding Dong Johnson]

I hope he's 2009 Rick Ankiel.

even worse; he's Tim Tebow

[Clem Fandango]

Okay, I will amend it to be more indicative of what I really want:

 

I want him to be 2009 Yunieski Betancourt

[bukie]

I hope he's 2009 Rick Ankiel.

 

I hope he's (name of some AA/AAA player who's never sniffed the majors)

Michael Jordan?

[Bull]

I would not like Tebow to have any kind of success....certainly not 18 HR's worth of it.

 

I'm confused by this stance.

 

Is it because:

1) You don't want the Mets to have an additional asset.

- meh, I'm not really threatened by the Mets, but I can see not wanting good things for other teams.

 

2) Not wanting athlete's of other sports thinking they can just "pick-up" baseball.

- as long as you felt the same way about Jordan, I'm ok with this.

or is this

3) or simple dislike of Tim Tebow?

- I don't understand those who feel this way. Some people over-rated him/He got too much attention for his talent level, but I didn't see him do anything worthy of the hate some people have for him.

 

I don't have any particular love for Tebow, but I don't wish him any ill will.

[Banedon]

I would not like Tebow to have any kind of success....certainly not 18 HR's worth of it.

 

I'm confused by this stance.

 

Is it because:

1) You don't want the Mets to have an additional asset.

- meh, I'm not really threatened by the Mets, but I can see not wanting good things for other teams.

 

2) Not wanting athlete's of other sports thinking they can just "pick-up" baseball.

- as long as you felt the same way about Jordan, I'm ok with this.

or is this

3) or simple dislike of Tim Tebow?

- I don't understand those who feel this way. Some people over-rated him/He got too much attention for his talent level, but I didn't see him do anything worthy of the hate some people have for him.

 

I don't have any particular love for Tebow, but I don't wish him any ill will.

 

It's a combination of 2 and 3, but it's different than Jordan. Jordan had success in basketball. His leaving to play baseball was purely a choice...a dumb one, but a choice nonetheless.

 

Tebow is trying baseball because "horsefeathers, turns out I suck at football". That, combined with my dislike of him and the hype around him makes me actively root against him.

[Tracer Bullet]

I would not like Tebow to have any kind of success....certainly not 18 HR's worth of it.

 

I'm confused by this stance.

 

Is it because:

1) You don't want the Mets to have an additional asset.

- meh, I'm not really threatened by the Mets, but I can see not wanting good things for other teams.

 

2) Not wanting athlete's of other sports thinking they can just "pick-up" baseball.

- as long as you felt the same way about Jordan, I'm ok with this.

or is this

3) or simple dislike of Tim Tebow?

- I don't understand those who feel this way. Some people over-rated him/He got too much attention for his talent level, but I didn't see him do anything worthy of the hate some people have for him.

 

I don't have any particular love for Tebow, but I don't wish him any ill will.

 

not wanting him to make the majors isn't exactly hoping he dies of cancer tomorrow. jesus, the guy went to college for free and played in the nfl. he doesn't need anyone's sympathy.

[JudasIscariotTheBird]

I would not like Tebow to have any kind of success....certainly not 18 HR's worth of it.

 

I'm confused by this stance.

 

Is it because:

1) You don't want the Mets to have an additional asset.

- meh, I'm not really threatened by the Mets, but I can see not wanting good things for other teams.

 

2) Not wanting athlete's of other sports thinking they can just "pick-up" baseball.

- as long as you felt the same way about Jordan, I'm ok with this.

or is this

3) or simple dislike of Tim Tebow?

- I don't understand those who feel this way. Some people over-rated him/He got too much attention for his talent level, but I didn't see him do anything worthy of the hate some people have for him.

 

I don't have any particular love for Tebow, but I don't wish him any ill will.

 

not wanting him to make the majors isn't exactly hoping he dies of cancer tomorrow. jesus, the guy went to college for free and played in the nfl. he doesn't need anyone's sympathy.

Try not being a Kanye fan in the music thread...

[Derwood]

I hope he's 2009 Rick Ankiel.

 

I hope he's 2017 Oscar Tavares

[WrigleyField 22]

I'd like to see Tebow make the Mets roster and hit around .265 with about maybe 18 HRs. That would put him squarely in the middle of people with nothing better to do getting bent out of shape over whether or not he's any good. I'm also fine with never hearing about him again.

squarely in the middle of what?

 

that'd be an amazing accomplishment by him.

I assumed he meant the St. Lucie Mets...

[ConstableRabbit]

I hope he's 2009 Rick Ankiel.

 

I hope he's 2017 Oscar Tavares

You want him to die?

[Omar]

Theo Epstein has a better swing than Jason Heyward.