Jason lives!
After years of frustrating fantasy owners, Heyward now worth cheap add
THERE once was a highly touted outf ield prospect who, in 2010, was considered one of the best ballplayers in all the land.
Every year, from 2011-16, Jason Heyward would call for fantasy owners to follow him on his journey up the hill with promises of leading them to fantasy glory. And every year, fantasy owners would follow him only to reach the top and discover Heyward laughing and smiling before pelting fantasy owners in the head with pebbles. Th e fantasy owners descended the hill, year after year, bloodied and hurt from Heyward’s lies.
This year, when Heyward arrived in town, he screamed: “I’m here. It’s time to begin our journey up the hill.” This time, however, no one believed it when Heyward pleaded: “I can do it, I really can. It’s going to be different this time.” Fantasy owners wouldn’t budge. They had been bitten by this wolf one too many times.
So, Heyward wound up with a 268.8 average draft position (the 71st ranked outfielder and 260th overall), according to FantasyPros, and he began his ascent up the hill, for the first time, all by himself.
Oh, how the once potentially mighty have fallen.
But, like Aesop’s Fables, there is a moral to this story: When you’re far off everyone’s radar and you start to perform, people notice.
In a four-day span ( April 21-24), Heyward went 5-for-17 (. 294) with three homers, 11 RBIs, four runs scored and a 1.157 OPS. His exit velocity on each of those three homers was greater than any of the seven he hit last year.
Over his first 20 games, Heyward was hitting .284 (above his .262 career average) with three home runs (something that took him 49 games to reach in 2016) and 16 RBIs (which took him 39 games last year). He also has a .346 onbase percentage (equal to his career average), a .432 slugging percentage (.415 for his career), a .778 OPS (.761 for his career). He has at least one hit in all but three games this season.
Heyward is striking out less (13.6 percent ), swinging at pitches inside the strike zone at a career-high rate (63.7 percent) and making contact on those pitches 93 percent of the time.
These numbers may not jump off the page — especially not for a player who has burned you over and over again. But that was for a guy you overdrafted over and over again. Now? He is relevant and dependable, whether it is for depth or to help fill the void left by suspended (Starling Marte) or injured (Yoenis Cespedes) studs. He has value. His bat, his speed (despite having just one stolen base) and his upside have true value.
Despite the fact it feels as if Heyward has been around since 1993, he still is just 27 years old. Can he turn his career around? Without a doubt. There are plenty of players who didn’t show their true potential until later in their careers — Jose Bautista, Daniel Murphy, Eric Thames (well, so we think) to name a few. There still is time, and Roto Rage believes Heyward’s resurgence has begun.
You don’t have to feel bamboozled by him any more — he didn’t cost you a high draft pick, as he had in the past. If he is available, pick him up. And if he fails? Feed him to the wolves — it will bring closure for all the other times you wanted to.