Comments on: Jason Heyward at Leadoff? Not As Far-fetched As You Think http://wrigleyville.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2018/02/09/jason-heyward-in-the-leadoff-its-not-as-crazy-as-you-think/ Just another Baseball Prospectus Local Sites site Sat, 16 Feb 2019 21:04:52 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=4.1.1 By: Theguz7 http://wrigleyville.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2018/02/09/jason-heyward-in-the-leadoff-its-not-as-crazy-as-you-think/#comment-21675 Fri, 09 Feb 2018 19:05:37 +0000 http://wrigleyville.locals.baseballprospectus.com/?p=22879#comment-21675 *baserunning has tanked; definitely not “ranked.”

]]> By: Theguz7 http://wrigleyville.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2018/02/09/jason-heyward-in-the-leadoff-its-not-as-crazy-as-you-think/#comment-21674 Fri, 09 Feb 2018 19:04:35 +0000 http://wrigleyville.locals.baseballprospectus.com/?p=22879#comment-21674 Actually, preposterous. When you are the 3rd-worst hitter in MLB by OPS (as he was in ‘16, behind only the retired Alexis Ramirez and Adeiny Hechevarria), then “rebound” to put up 11 HR and an even-more-stunning 15 2B in a juicer ball year, finishing well below league average in OPS, the debate around your spot in the lineup is limited to 3 spots: 8th, 9th, or bench.

No one brings it up, but Heyward’s baserunning has completely ranked as well during his Cub tenure. He just put up the worst base running year of his life, per both FanGraphs and baseball-ref. SB are not everything, but in Heyward’s case, they are also not anything (4 outta 8 last year).

Heyward’s defensive sabermetrics are still strong, but have also slipped. Again, no one says it, but at 28, he continues to fill out; it should not be surprising if with weight gain he has lost a step or two—already.

And all this is just considering him—not that there are 10 better offensive players on the team.

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