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

[SouthSideRyan]

Should've listened to @thekapman. 5 days off would fix this for sure.

[Sammy Sofa]

Should've listened to @thekapman. 5 days off would fix this for sure.

 

Yeah, talk about the burying the lede on one of the dumbest things he's ever said.

[Irrelevant Dude]

Should've listened to @thekapman. 5 days off would fix this for sure.

The Cubs really screwed this one up. The all-star break was 4 days. All they needed to do was wait 1 more day and he would have been fixed!

[imb]

I'm not really all that worried about Heyward other than the fact it sucks he's sucked offensively most of the year but I'm not worried he's suddenly turned into Darwin Barney at the plate for the rest of his career or even this season. He's too young, talented and hard of a worker to not turn it around if not this year, at least for how ever many more years he's on the team.

 

Pretty much, I chalk this year up to [expletive] happening once in a while. Me myself personally, I still fully expect a great season during his tenure as a Cub.

 

i remember telling you last year that it would be cool to sign heyward but sure would suck waiting half a season for him to start hitting and you assured me this wouldnt happen

[PackLandVA]

Regarding FA signings, I hope Heyward is not to the Cubs what Crawford was to the Red Sox. That would be bad. Unless we could get LA to take him after struggling/slightly injured 2017.

[Butterscup]

I'm not really all that worried about Heyward other than the fact it sucks he's sucked offensively most of the year but I'm not worried he's suddenly turned into Darwin Barney at the plate for the rest of his career or even this season. He's too young, talented and hard of a worker to not turn it around if not this year, at least for how ever many more years he's on the team.

 

Pretty much, I chalk this year up to [expletive] happening once in a while. Me myself personally, I still fully expect a great season during his tenure as a Cub.

 

i remember telling you last year that it would be cool to sign heyward but sure would suck waiting half a season for him to start hitting and you assured me this wouldnt happen

 

you're not waiting half a season. you're going to be waiting a full season+

[Lefty]

Regarding FA signings, I hope Heyward is not to the Cubs what Crawford was to the Red Sox.

 

Started this very thread two months ago and had it unceremoniously locked.

[Derwood]

I'd be less frustrated if I could see that he was trying to make adjustments. Different stance, moving around in the box....something. Maybe he is, but to my eye, he's just repeating the same broken swing over and over

[Sammy Sofa]

Regarding FA signings, I hope Heyward is not to the Cubs what Crawford was to the Red Sox.

 

Started this very thread two months ago and had it unceremoniously locked.

 

Because this one already existed.

[Vinestal]

It doesn't seem like the media really asks questions about why Heward is so awful at the plate, seems like he'd be getting asked about it more or that someone would be asking Malle what's up. Maybe they have but I haven't really seen much of anything in the Chicago media about Heywards struggles offensively. I had really hoped that by now he would be showing signs of life, but it's like someone else said it just looks like the same terrible broken swing over and over with the same results all the time.

[jersey cubs fan]

It doesn't seem like the media really asks questions about why Heward is so awful at the plate, seems like he'd be getting asked about it more or that someone would be asking Malle what's up. Maybe they have but I haven't really seen much of anything in the Chicago media about Heywards struggles offensively. I had really hoped that by now he would be showing signs of life, but it's like someone else said it just looks like the same terrible broken swing over and over with the same results all the time.

 

The team is in first place, and there's a lot going on. So there isn't as much incentive to pick the scab.

[Sammy Sofa]

Actually, I've heard it come up a number times in Maddon pressers, especially after the lineup switch. I think some people just want it to be more of a public shaming/grilling that they can soak their meatballs in.

[Proven Veteran]

Actually, I've heard it come up a number times in Maddon pressers, especially after the lineup switch. I think some people just want it to be more of a public shaming/grilling that they can soak their meatballs in.

 

Mmm, grilled meatballs.

[Lefty]

Regarding FA signings, I hope Heyward is not to the Cubs what Crawford was to the Red Sox.

 

Started this very thread two months ago and had it unceremoniously locked.

 

Because this one already existed.

 

Thanks. I feel better now. Heyward needs to shorten his setup so his front foot is flat; my $.02.

[Banedon]

Thanks. I feel better now. Heyward needs to shorten his setup so his front foot is flat; my $.02.

 

I don't think this is something as simple as that. I think there's going to be a pretty major retooling of his swing in the offseason. It's too much to fix during the season.

[UMFan83]

According to Inside Edge, Heyward’s 22.9 percent line-drive percentage this season is the highest of his career. Baseball Reference has it even higher, at 27 percent.

 

According to ESPN Stats and Information, Heyward is hitting .563 when he hits a line drive, a career low, and 156th out of 159 qualified hitters. For comparison, last year he hit .686 on line drives, a previous career low.

 

Heyward’s batting average on balls in play is just .273. That ranks 135th in baseball. The league average is .311.

 

ESPN article on Heywards luck. The article then goes on to explain it might be misleading because of launch angle which we've discussed recently, but he does seem to be quite unlucky as well.

[Cubswin11]

How is a LD defined when they measure them? Like if a ball is hit and takes one hop to the 2B is it classified as LD because it carried to almost the OF? Is it based off of exit velocity, distance a ball carries in the air, some equation based off the two of those?

[Sammy Sofa]

This is totally based on nothing except pessimism, but this seems like it would have to involve a pretty damn loose definition of a "linedrive." The times where he's actually crushed one into an out or a hit seem REALLY few and far between.

[Cubswin11]

This is totally based on nothing except pessimism, but this seems like it would have to involve a pretty damn loose definition of a "linedrive." The times where he's actually crushed one into an out or a hit seem REALLY few and far between.

I agree, that's why I asked the question if the one hoppers to 2B/1B get defined as LDs.

[Banedon]

This is totally based on nothing except pessimism, but this seems like it would have to involve a pretty damn loose definition of a "linedrive." The times where he's actually crushed one into an out or a hit seem REALLY few and far between.

 

Fangraphs further breaks down liners in to soft, medium, and hard.

 

They have him at 15.5% soft, 44.8% medium and 39.7% hard.

 

Last year was 12.4% soft, 43.8% medium and 43.8% hard.

[Banedon]

Part of it too could be if teams have figured out that he can be shifted on predictably, it may make him appear unlucky.

[Andy]

I'd be less frustrated if I could see that he was trying to make adjustments. Different stance, moving around in the box....something. Maybe he is, but to my eye, he's just repeating the same broken swing over and over

I thought I saw him further away from the plate at one point a week or two ago, but yeah, it's pretty much been the exact same thing. Odd considering there was talk in spring that Mallee had discovered a way for him to unleash more power

[Cubswin11]

There was the toe tap/front leg load switch that was pointed out relatively early on. Idk if he's kept doing that or switched to something else

[woodchip2153]

How is a LD defined when they measure them? Like if a ball is hit and takes one hop to the 2B is it classified as LD because it carried to almost the OF? Is it based off of exit velocity, distance a ball carries in the air, some equation based off the two of those?

 

IIRC, there isn't a defined criteria, it's just people watching the game classifying each ball in play. I believe Colin Wyers did some stuff in past showing the classifications might be unreliable. I also think Kyle has used this as one of his crusades in the past too.

[BigSlick]

I think its possible there's a huge confluence of bad luck that just happened to strike Heyward all at the same time, along with pitcher's adjusting to his swing and him not hitting the ball with the same authority.

 

If you look at his batted ball percentages there isn't too much going on dramatically. His flyball percentages are up from last year but down from the previous 4 years with the Braves. The line drives (however broadly or vaguely defined) are where they are and as folks pointed out, he's been exceptionally unlucky on those.

 

More importantly, his HR/FB% is 4.7%, which is one third his career rate. If that was normalized he'd probably still be having a disappointing offensive year, but it wouldn't be nearly as dramatic as it has been. But should he have more home runs? I don't know, I mean, completely anecdotally, I don't recall many long flyballs that Heyward has hit that have been caught on the warning track or whatever. But that is far from scientific, I'm sure there are more sophisticated measures of flyballs that I wouldn't know how to read anyway out there.