Article on Heyward's new swing

SilenceS

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I used to keep track of Mark Prior's 'simulated game' stats, because thats all we heard about for a two year span...Prior 'threw from the mound' today....Prior did great in his simulated game...Prior on the cusp of making a return....etc.

The Heyward storyline is similar. Constant false optimism to cover up a chronic issue. With Heyward, instead of 'simulated games' its 'loud outs'. I started hearing about Heyward's 'loud outs' at the end of the 2016 regular season, it became a 'thing' in the postseason, and now its carried over to spring training. Loud outs. Good stuff.

Prior never changed his mechanics and kept getting injured. Heyward has changed swing mechanics and is not injured. Im not sure how the correlation is the same. I highly doubt Heyward has the same terrible year with the bat. He wont have what delusional Cubs fans think his bat should be, but he isnt going to hit .230 again.
 

fatbeard

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Heyward's wRC+, by year:

2010: 134
2011: 96
2012: 121
2013: 120
2014: 109
2015: 120
2016: 72

Chronic.
 

beckdawg

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Prior never changed his mechanics and kept getting injured. Heyward has changed swing mechanics and is not injured. Im not sure how the correlation is the same. I highly doubt Heyward has the same terrible year with the bat. He wont have what delusional Cubs fans think his bat should be, but he isnt going to hit .230 again.

What do delusional Cubs fans think? Is the .293/.359/.439 he hit in 2015 delusional cuz that's a pretty decent player. I'll go on record and say I think he hits around 20 HRs this year which would be an uptick but I think pitchers are going to challenge him in the zone early and assuming the work he put in pays off with better contact he could surprise. They have talked about wanting to get him back to his ATL swing and in his 5 years there his ISO went .179, .162, .210, .173, and .113. Most players in that .170 ISO range hit about 20 HRs.
 

SilenceS

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What do delusional Cubs fans think? Is the .293/.359/.439 he hit in 2015 delusional cuz that's a pretty decent player. I'll go on record and say I think he hits around 20 HRs this year which would be an uptick but I think pitchers are going to challenge him in the zone early and assuming the work he put in pays off with better contact he could surprise. They have talked about wanting to get him back to his ATL swing and in his 5 years there his ISO went .179, .162, .210, .173, and .113. Most players in that .170 ISO range hit about 20 HRs.

Delusional cubs fans think he should hit 30 plus homer and bat close to .300 for his contract. I wont say what he will do with home runs because strength isnt his problem. Its lift. He could easily range from 10 to 20.
 

beckdawg

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Delusional cubs fans think he should hit 30 plus homer and bat close to .300 for his contract. I wont say what he will do with home runs because strength isnt his problem. Its lift. He could easily range from 10 to 20.

Ah well then yeah that is rather unlikely.
 

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I'm hoping this guy turns it around and I would be happy with .280 and 20 HRs
 

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I will be happy if he hits well enough that he wants to opt out after this season.
 

anotheridiot

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0-11 so far, Maybe he needs to get a pair of Russells neon greens
 

chibears55

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He a slow starter, he'll start hitting in June...
?


I can't see this guy all of a sudden just stop hitting after having good years..
I think he turns it around, I'm hoping for at least
.270 and 20 HRs

162 games , Bryant Rizzo Schwarber are gonna go thru slumps and their gonna need others to pick them up..
Their going to need Heyward to be one of those guys

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CSF77

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.270/20 HR's should be a good goal for him.
 

85Bears

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If the rain delay speech really did provide the catalyst to the game 7 win, Heyward and the entire balance due to him on his contract could both vanish in a cloud of smoke right now and his contract would have been worth it.

Hope he turns it around, but with the OF talent we have... meh...
 

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If the rain delay speech really did provide the catalyst to the game 7 win, Heyward and the entire balance due to him on his contract could both vanish in a cloud of smoke right now and his contract would have been worth it.
loloolololololololol
 

chibears55

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It endured the entire length of the 2016 season, which is also the entire length of Heyward's Cubs tenure. So yeah, 'chronic'. I also don't think you understand how significantly bad a 72 wRC+ is. Its not like Heyward got unlucky with 'loud outs', his performance took a slight dip, and things will assuredly be back to normal in 2017. I'm not optimistic about Heyward this year. Watching the 'new swing' in spring training, its like he's made all these load phase adjustments and then reverts back to tightening up, dropping his hands and not getting full extension when he's about to make contact. But unlike everyone else here, I'm don't have MLB experience as a player and/or coach...I am only commenting on what I see.
He too far off the plate....

Look at where most hitters stand in box and where he at.

Most guys are middle of box in, Heyward about 3/4 away from plate.

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fatbeard

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It endured the entire length of the 2016 season, which is also the entire length of Heyward's Cubs tenure. So yeah, 'chronic'.

And yet, somehow, Heyward posted a positive wRC+ in five of his six previous seasons. I mean, throwing out 85.7% of Heyward's career sample size because his uniforms happened to be dyed a different color seems like a totally valid methodology here for determining what a "chronic" problem is. Some people might suggest that, for example, Jon Lester's throwing issues, which have plagued him since high school and persist no matter what shade of uniform he happens to be wearing, represent a truly "chronic" problem. I suppose YMMV, but really, your screed would be on firmer rational footing if you argued that Gary Pressy was jabbing a voodoo doll from behind the organ every time Heyward came to bat, or that Yosh Kawano was sneaking back into the clubhouse in disguise every day to sprinkle anti-hit juju powder inside Heyward's pants.

I also don't think you understand how significantly bad a 72 wRC+ is.

Jason Heyward was the fourth-worst offensive player in terms of wRC+ in all of MLB last year, among qualifying players. It was the 44th worst single-season wRC+ in the last ten years, and certainly much worse than that if I felt like limiting the sample to just outfielders. He created 28% fewer runs than the average player, adjusted for park factors, during 2016. I think that's a rather objective understanding of how awful Heyward was offensively last year. Not sure how I'm misunderstanding things here just because I noted that Heyward has been "not bad" for pretty much the entirety of the rest of his career.

Its not like Heyward got unlucky with 'loud outs', his performance took a slight dip, and things will assuredly be back to normal in 2017. I'm not optimistic about Heyward this year. Watching the 'new swing' in spring training, its like he's made all these load phase adjustments and then reverts back to tightening up, dropping his hands and not getting full extension when he's about to make contact.

His new swing doesn't look natural. It's like he's fighting his own body, and he probably is in a sense. Still, there's a history of performance that indicates Heyward is a pretty good baseball player, and regression is a powerful thing. It certainly seems to me that "regression" seems like a more likely scenario for 2017 than "Jason Heyward forgot how to hit a baseball at age 26 after donning a Cubs uniform for the first time." Is that a controversial position? I had no idea.

But unlike everyone else here, I'm don't have MLB experience as a player and/or coach...I am only commenting on what I see.

Indeed, these are tough times; someone criticized a post you made on the internet. Chin up, buck-o. Stiff upper lip and all that. Maybe have some ice cream on the couch tonight and then a good cry. You'll get through this.
 

beckdawg

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[video]http://m.mlb.com/video/?content_id=1231724783&topic_id=6479266[/video]

Well heyward got his 1st hit.
 

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