Does the name Brad Komminsk ring any bells?
GDT 4/12 vs Guardians: Waiting All Day For Sunday Night
- Thread starter CrimsonCowboy
- Start date
MadduxFanII
Swallowed by Mark Bowman
I mean, there's no chance that was actually a good bottle of wine, right?
Strike3urout
Active member
The first swing Heyward took as a big leaguer, the ball landed 450+ft away. The power potential was there. He just couldn‘t utilize it, for some reason.
Was it it measured at 477?
I remember that they had to build a special tarp over the parking lot because his homers kept reaching the vehicles.
VirginiaBrave
Well-known member
All to well, but exactly how does he figure in?
Not in this conversation but I remember his over the top hype (perhaps more than either Heyward or Francouer) when he was called up...HoF, better than Aaron...and he was, at best, a journeyman.
VirginiaBrave
Well-known member
I don't remember the Aaron level comparison but I do remember the idea of a 2nd Murph on the other outfield corner with him. And yes, he was a bust.
sturg33
I
My memory was that Heyward came up and set the world on fire... and was pacing 30+ homers in April and early May. I believe he won rookie of the month for both months - definitely April. Then he suffered a sprained thumb in mid May and never came back the same
Now that's before the league had a book on him, etc. But for the first quarter of the season his rookie year, he was displaying elite power if memory serves
Your memory is correct.
Henry Aaron himself said that Komminsk was better than he was. You can't get much more hype than that.
Mrs. Meta
Well-known member
You'll always be Marte future to me
Carp
Well-known member
Yup.
MadduxFanII
Swallowed by Mark Bowman
Just to throw some hard numbers on it, in Heyward's rookie year he slugged .520 in April* and .628 in May with ISOs of around .300 in both months. He hit 10 home runs in those two months. I don't think that tells us much about Heyward's "true talent" or what he would have been without injuries, just tossing out the numbers.
Two things can be -- and are -- true. First, Heyward had a damn fine MLB career and has nothing to be ashamed of -- he was a winning ball player who consistently did things on the field to help his teams win games. And second, he didn't live up to the hype around him when he was coming up. Which says more about the hype than it does about Heyward.
*Technically March/April, but get off my back.
Two things can be -- and are -- true. First, Heyward had a damn fine MLB career and has nothing to be ashamed of -- he was a winning ball player who consistently did things on the field to help his teams win games. And second, he didn't live up to the hype around him when he was coming up. Which says more about the hype than it does about Heyward.
*Technically March/April, but get off my back.
MadduxFanII
Swallowed by Mark Bowman
I do want to see some EVs for Gary Sheffield.
I still remember Heyward’s first homer back from getting hit in the face when he was put in the leadoff spot and was wearing that huge batters helmet.
Metaphysicist
Not Actually Brian Hunter
If you look at bbref’s similarity scores, here are Heyward’s top ten comps at age 20:
1. Jackson Chourio - still only 21
2. Willie Mays (156.2 WAR)
3. Sam Crawford (74.9)
4. Ken Griffey, Jr. (83.8)
5. Cesar Cedeno (53.1)
6. Bryce Harper (54 and counting)
7. Manny Machado (62.3 and counting)
8. Andruw Jones (62.7)
9. Claudell Washington (19.6)
10. Eddie Mathews (96)
I have a distinct memory of looking at this list early in his career (when the list did not yet have Chourio, Harper, Machado) and opining that he could be Willie Mays (his then #1 comp) or he could be Claudell Washington (who must have been #5ish). We’d just have to see. He ultimately ended up offensively like Claudell, but was a great player because he was an all world defender (which Claudell certainly was not).
So yeah, I was completely serious that he was a disappointment because he was not Willie Mays—that was literally the most comparable start to his career in all of baseball history at the time. You can’t help but look at this list and think “well, he didn’t really meet those expectations.” But he was really good, especially during his Braves years.
This is also the same way people talked about Andruw as a “disappointment” for not being Willie Mays either. His top age twenty comps are Mathews, Mays, Crawford . . . Heyward.
1. Jackson Chourio - still only 21
2. Willie Mays (156.2 WAR)
3. Sam Crawford (74.9)
4. Ken Griffey, Jr. (83.8)
5. Cesar Cedeno (53.1)
6. Bryce Harper (54 and counting)
7. Manny Machado (62.3 and counting)
8. Andruw Jones (62.7)
9. Claudell Washington (19.6)
10. Eddie Mathews (96)
I have a distinct memory of looking at this list early in his career (when the list did not yet have Chourio, Harper, Machado) and opining that he could be Willie Mays (his then #1 comp) or he could be Claudell Washington (who must have been #5ish). We’d just have to see. He ultimately ended up offensively like Claudell, but was a great player because he was an all world defender (which Claudell certainly was not).
So yeah, I was completely serious that he was a disappointment because he was not Willie Mays—that was literally the most comparable start to his career in all of baseball history at the time. You can’t help but look at this list and think “well, he didn’t really meet those expectations.” But he was really good, especially during his Braves years.
This is also the same way people talked about Andruw as a “disappointment” for not being Willie Mays either. His top age twenty comps are Mathews, Mays, Crawford . . . Heyward.
sturg33
I
Yeah so he got hurt around May 23. He was miserable in June (.245 slugging). Was put on the DL at end June. Came back in Mid July and was pretty solid again, slugging .458 in 15 games, before .536 in a full August... then had a weak September to close it out (.385 - probably rookie wall)
So I guess he wasn't a juggernaut long enough for that to have been his baseline, but that thumb injury immediately sapped his power. He was lighting the world up in May (193 ops+)