4/18 Brewers (Nelson) @ World Champion Cubs (Anderson) 7:05 CT WGN

[UMFan83]

Good sporting night

 

This losing streak has gotten me to once again appreciate the joy of a simple regular season victory

[We Got The Whole 9]

Hell of a win, the type that can catapult a team

[Bryants Disco Ball]

Great job, everyone. And great job to the Cubs for halting this thing before it got to 14.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

i don't understand what just happened

[17 Seconds]

retroactively enjoying schwarber's majestic blast more

[Bryants Disco Ball]

Question for Duke. We are encouraged that you think Heyward is fixed as you are good with swings and stuff.

 

Do you think he will start slugging a bit as he gets comfortable with his new swing or are we looking at a pure singles hitter? I'm not talking about dongs, but more a good number of doubles with the occasional triple and/or dong.

[Aaron_Kennelly]

Question for Duke. We are encouraged that you think Heyward is fixed as you are good with swings and stuff.

 

Do you think he will start slugging a bit as he gets comfortable with his new swing or are we looking at a pure singles hitter? I'm not talking about dongs, but more a good number of doubles with the occasional triple and/or dong.

 

I'm not good with swings, so I have no idea what to think of Jason Heyward's swing change. I am working on article about him, though. And there's some good stuff going on. Basically, his problem last year was that he hit the ball like a wimp. His walk and strikeout rates were normal. All his periphs were normal. He just hit the ball like a wimp. And he's not this year. His exit velocity is way up. His launch angles are way up. Everything that was bad last year isn't bad anymore.

 

He's not hitting like a power hitter, because he isn't one. So I don't think he's going to go Kris Bryant on us or anything. But his statcast numbers are where they were in 2015. I'd say something like 2014 or 2015 Heyward seems reasonable at this point. A dozen homers, 30 or so doubles. But, I think the extra-base hits will come if he keeps hitting like this. He's hitting it hard, and he's getting the ball elevated more.

[Aaron_Kennelly]

In 2014, Heyward was worth 5 wins, with a .113 ISO, a .308 BABIP, and defensive and base running value that was similar to last year's. He could basically do what he's doing so far, sprinkle in some doubles and homers and be a 4-win player rather easily.

[Bryants Disco Ball]

Question for Duke. We are encouraged that you think Heyward is fixed as you are good with swings and stuff.

 

Do you think he will start slugging a bit as he gets comfortable with his new swing or are we looking at a pure singles hitter? I'm not talking about dongs, but more a good number of doubles with the occasional triple and/or dong.

 

I'm not good with swings, so I have no idea what to think of Jason Heyward's swing change. I am working on article about him, though. And there's some good stuff going on. Basically, his problem last year was that he hit the ball like a wimp. His walk and strikeout rates were normal. All his periphs were normal. He just hit the ball like a wimp. And he's not this year. His exit velocity is way up. His launch angles are way up. Everything that was bad last year isn't bad anymore.

 

He's not hitting like a power hitter, because he isn't one. So I don't think he's going to go Kris Bryant on us or anything. But his statcast numbers are where they were in 2015. I'd say something like 2014 or 2015 Heyward seems reasonable at this point. A dozen homers, 30 or so doubles. But, I think the extra-base hits will come if he keeps hitting like this. He's hitting it hard, and he's getting the ball elevated more.

 

Thanks. That's what we were looking for. I'd be thrilled with J-Hey hitting 25 doubles and even 8-10 dongs.

[Aaron_Kennelly]

retroactively enjoying schwarber's majestic blast more

 

It was beautiful. 10 swings, no misses tonight, too. Contact% up to 76.5%. He's going to be a stud.

[UK]

His bat path is much better this year as he was very choppy last year, it's staying in the zone longer. There's still not a lot of loft to his swing but his timing and path are much improved.

[Bryants Disco Ball]

I'm a moron. Just went and saw Heyward had 27 doubles last season. So, I need to raise the bar a bit more than 25.

 

ETA: But, seriously, how did he have 27 doubles last year?

[Aaron_Kennelly]

Question for Duke. We are encouraged that you think Heyward is fixed as you are good with swings and stuff.

 

Do you think he will start slugging a bit as he gets comfortable with his new swing or are we looking at a pure singles hitter? I'm not talking about dongs, but more a good number of doubles with the occasional triple and/or dong.

 

I'm not good with swings, so I have no idea what to think of Jason Heyward's swing change. I am working on article about him, though. And there's some good stuff going on. Basically, his problem last year was that he hit the ball like a wimp. His walk and strikeout rates were normal. All his periphs were normal. He just hit the ball like a wimp. And he's not this year. His exit velocity is way up. His launch angles are way up. Everything that was bad last year isn't bad anymore.

 

He's not hitting like a power hitter, because he isn't one. So I don't think he's going to go Kris Bryant on us or anything. But his statcast numbers are where they were in 2015. I'd say something like 2014 or 2015 Heyward seems reasonable at this point. A dozen homers, 30 or so doubles. But, I think the extra-base hits will come if he keeps hitting like this. He's hitting it hard, and he's getting the ball elevated more.

 

Thanks. That's what we were looking for. I'd be thrilled with J-Hey hitting 25 doubles and even 8-10 dongs.

 

Yeah, even if he hit for the power he did last year, which was similar to that... he could be a 4-win player just by bumping his BABIP up and maybe dropping in another half dozen extra-base hits. I don't think it would be too hard to slug a tad more than he did last year, especially if he keeps hitting the ball as hard as he is now. And his BABIP is going to stay higher if he keeps hitting the ball harder and at higher launch angles.

[cubscausestress]

Watched the game this evening and this Thames bloke. He's obviously going to serve a suspension at some point in the future, yes? His forearms are ridiculous. Do they test these guys in the Korean baseball league?

[Euthoniel]

Watched the game this evening and this Thames bloke. He's obviously going to serve a suspension at some point in the future, yes? His forearms are ridiculous. Do they test these guys in the Korean baseball league?

 

Not sure if Korea tests for PED's, but according this article, they tested him after last night's game. Even if he does test positive it will be a few weeks before we know due to the appeal process. Marte tested positive in spring training. Could always just be a hot streak plus luck.