Braves limited Heyward's power potential

VirginiaBrave said:
Last time I checked Atlanta wasn't NYC. All the local boy stuff was hype. Dude's from Jersey...
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Nonsense. Heyward was only born in New Jersey, his family moved to Georgia shortly after and he grew up here in McDonough where he went to Henry County Highschool. He even wears the number 22 to honor another local player (Andrew Wilmot) who he played with growing up here that died. Plus Heyward's dad is from South Carolina, so it isn't like both his parents are from NYC.
 
gilesfan said:
"The Heywards moved to Georgia soon after he was born"

Do you think Heyward considers himself a New Jersian?
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He probably considers himself from there as much as my Grandma considered herself from Ohio. She was born there but both her parents were from Georgia and they moved back when she was only two.
 
I'm probably the biggest Heyward fan on this board, and I'm still salty at the Braves front office for not signing him to an extension. But, that's some of the biggest BS I've ever read.
 
gilesfan said:
I think a lot of players wrongly change their approach when they bat leadoff and most of the time it's likely because some 65 year old manger has told him to. Not saying its the case here, but the old guard is still stuck in their ways.
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I seriously doubt Fredi told him to change his approach, considering he was so hell bent on not batting him leadoff for basically the entire season.
 
CyYoung31 said:
I seriously doubt Fredi told him to change his approach, considering he was so hell bent on not batting him leadoff for basically the entire season.
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Fredi may not have said "sap your power" but he may have told him while coming in the dugout after say a flyout "remember to look for your pitch" or something like that to plant an earworm.
 
CyYoung31 said:
I'm probably the biggest Heyward fan on this board, and I'm still salty at the Braves front office for not signing him to an extension. But, that's some of the biggest BS I've ever read.
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I will believe the FO before I do him. They have insinuated there was no chance of signing him long term. That's good enough for me. If the Braves felt he was worthy of an extension he would still be here.
 
50PoundHead said:
I'm not saying Heyward isn't good (maybe others are, but I'm not). It just seems like a chump move to blame his disappointment in his own performance on the fact he was asked to bat lead-off. As others have said, he changed his approach and it will be interesting if Fredi or anyone else flat-out asked him to do so. I doubt very much anyone did.

Francoeur is a chucklehead, but he managed to stick around a few years. Heyward is a better player and I expect he will stick around even longer because of his superior athleticism. And maybe Heyward becomes the franchise player many projected him to become. But in order to reach that level, he is going to have to do some serious thinking about his approach at the plate and like Matheny says, develop a solid approach regardless of where he is batting.
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It probably shouldn't have been said and I'm not a huge fan of excuses but I can see his point somewhat. I mean the old school adage is that a leadoff hitter is supposed to hit a certain way. See pitches, put the ball in play, etc. Was this coming from the dugout? How much of that goes on at the professional level? I don't know. A hitter should hit the same regardless of where they hit but this doesn't always happen. Hitters have openly talked about this before. Some do it on their own and some don't. I think it's clear he's still upset about the trade and is trying build up his stock by deflecting his loss of power on the fact that he got hit in the face and he hasn't been the same power wise since then. In the end I don't think it matters all that much. He's gone, isn't coming back, and the Braves are in rebuilding mode. He will get paid a lot to play someone next year whether his power returns or not.
 
Baseball isn't a movie, it's reality. And reality sucks. Very few baseball players have inspiring stories. They're normal jocks who excel at hitting or pitching and play for huge, ridiculous mounds of cash. Teams hardly have fairytale endings either. The scrappy bunch of players who win the pennant despite their owner's attempts to cut their legs out from under them just doesn't happen.

Baseball is a cut-throat business. Seldom are there saintly, homegrown talents who become golden in the eyes of the fans. Attitudes are large and grudges are kept. I tell people if you can handle all of that, then watch baseball. If not, stick to watching movies and reading fantasy novels.
 
thewupk said:
It probably shouldn't have been said and I'm not a huge fan of excuses but I can see his point somewhat. I mean the old school adage is that a leadoff hitter is supposed to hit a certain way. See pitches, put the ball in play, etc. Was this coming from the dugout? How much of that goes on at the professional level? I don't know. A hitter should hit the same regardless of where they hit but this doesn't always happen. Hitters have openly talked about this before. Some do it on their own and some don't. I think it's clear he's still upset about the trade and is trying build up his stock by deflecting his loss of power on the fact that he got hit in the face and he hasn't been the same power wise since then. In the end I don't think it matters all that much. He's gone, isn't coming back, and the Braves are in rebuilding mode. He will get paid a lot to play someone next year whether his power returns or not.
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Which is why I would like to hear what Fredi, Walker, and Fletcher would have to say about it. Maybe Heyward has a gripe, but I doubt it.

The game has changed dramatically in the 50+ years I've been a serious fan and hitters' approach is one of the more stark examples of change. Maybe that started with the DH or maybe it was something else, but the old "classic" type at the top of the line-up, especially leading off or batting second has certainly diminished in importance. I don't advocate swinging at sh*t, but I think a lot of guys "take" their way into a bad count and don't have the pliability as a hitter to get themselves out of those situations. Which is why baseball at the big league level is a game of adjustments and I've always thought Heyward is going to have to make some to realize his potential. He'll be good, perhaps very good, without making adjustments, but I still think he could be more. Maybe he's just one of those guys who is destined to be very good when everyone had him pegged for greatness. Nothing wrong with that. I just thought his comments here were a bit silly.
 
50PoundHead said:
Which is why I would like to hear what Fredi, Walker, and Fletcher would have to say about it. Maybe Heyward has a gripe, but I doubt it.

The game has changed dramatically in the 50+ years I've been a serious fan and hitters' approach is one of the more stark examples of change. Maybe that started with the DH or maybe it was something else, but the old "classic" type at the top of the line-up, especially leading off or batting second has certainly diminished in importance. I don't advocate swinging at sh*t, but I think a lot of guys "take" their way into a bad count and don't have the pliability as a hitter to get themselves out of those situations. Which is why baseball at the big league level is a game of adjustments and I've always thought Heyward is going to have to make some to realize his potential. He'll be good, perhaps very good, without making adjustments, but I still think he could be more. Maybe he's just one of those guys who is destined to be very good when everyone had him pegged for greatness. Nothing wrong with that. I just thought his comments here were a bit silly.
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I agree. We will never know 100% what's truthful or not but it's likely just sour grapes from Heyward. And whether Heyward stays the player he has been or does take it to the next level I think it's time for fans to enjoy what a player does well instead of complain that they aren't living up to the hype. We went through this with Andruw specifically. Most of the time players aren't going to be what they were hyped up to be. Some players can't make that adjustment at the big league level and are merely good instead of great. Is it that players fault or the fault of fans/prospect hypers for putting too much on them?
 
thewupk said:
I agree. We will never know 100% what's truthful or not but it's likely just sour grapes from Heyward. And whether Heyward stays the player he has been or does take it to the next level I think it's time for fans to enjoy what a player does well instead of complain that they aren't living up to the hype. We went through this with Andruw specifically. Most of the time players aren't going to be what they were hyped up to be. Some players can't make that adjustment at the big league level and are merely good instead of great. Is it that players fault or the fault of fans/prospect hypers for putting too much on them?
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It was somewhat the same thing with Andruw. He was great, but could be maddening to watch hit when he didn't seem to be dialed in. I don't think there's any question that Heyward is good and that he works very hard. At some point, you just have to sit back and enjoy what players bring to the table. Baseball is a very difficult game.
 
CyYoung31 said:
I'm probably the biggest Heyward fan on this board, and I'm still salty at the Braves front office for not signing him to an extension. But, that's some of the biggest BS I've ever read.
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I'll be salty till we see what he signs for.
 
All I know is that I really miss Andruw.

I really wish I had the same understanding of baseball then as I do now. I would have appreciated Andruw much much more than I did at the time.
 
thewupk said:
I agree. We will never know 100% what's truthful or not but it's likely just sour grapes from Heyward. And whether Heyward stays the player he has been or does take it to the next level I think it's time for fans to enjoy what a player does well instead of complain that they aren't living up to the hype. We went through this with Andruw specifically. Most of the time players aren't going to be what they were hyped up to be. Some players can't make that adjustment at the big league level and are merely good instead of great. Is it that players fault or the fault of fans/prospect hypers for putting too much on them?
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This is the only part about the whole situation that bothers most fans IMO. I think many here (myself included) want to continue being big Heyward fans and pulling for Jason - regardless of where he plays. He's insanely talented, and amazing to watch when he's playing well. That said, he's making it awfully hard for those that feel that way want to pull for him when he says things like this. Given his level of intelligence, you'd hope that he'd think before he speaks and would realize that everything he says this year will be viewed with a much sharper microscope than ever before.

I hope for his sake that his handlers point this out to him (if no one else is willing to) before the other teams that might be willing to give him a mega-deal keep seeing these parting shots taken and wind up classifying him as a prima donna who's unwilling to take responsibility for his own results. Like you guys have said, he's a very good player. Whether he ever turns out to be a "great" player (and gets paid like one) is entirely up to him.
 
Braves1976 said:
Nonsense. Heyward was only born in New Jersey, his family moved to Georgia shortly after and he grew up here in McDonough where he went to Henry County Highschool. He even wears the number 22 to honor another local player (Andrew Wilmot) who he played with growing up here that died. Plus Heyward's dad is from South Carolina, so it isn't like both his parents are from NYC.
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his dad works at the base in Warner Robins
 
CyYoung31 said:
I'm probably the biggest Heyward fan on this board, and I'm still salty at the Braves front office for not signing him to an extension.
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Why? Factoring out the freak broken jaw injury, they wanted to see that he could demonstrate some consistency at the plate through a whole season. Then do it over a span of seasons, all the while becoming the new "face of the franchise." It was reasonable of them to expect these things before talking long-term extension.
 
Knucksie said:
Why? Factoring out the freak broken jaw injury, they wanted to see that he could demonstrate some consistency at the plate through a whole season. Then do it over a span of seasons, all the while becoming the new "face of the franchise." It was reasonable of them to expect these things before talking long-term extension.
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Like it or not, he WAS the face of the franchise, and he WAS the best player on the team.
 
I would blame Heyward on this one completely, if not for some of the things said with Nate McLouth and a couple other guys the Braves ruined. I still blame Heyward and think the best way he can **** on the Braves is by having a breakout year, but I suspect Walker and friends played a part.
 
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