FanPost

The glove has been thrown



Jason Heyward has received the top ranking in several of the major prospect ranking lists, including MLB.com, ESPN.com KG and Keith Law. The expectations are high, the praise abundant.

Here is what Keith Law said about him:

Heyward's ascent to the top of these rankings was swift and unimpeded, and his path to the majors appears to be much the same, as he'll have a good chance to win the every-day right-field job this spring. Heyward will be a middle-of-the-order bat with power and patience while playing above-average defense in right with a plus arm. He has an advanced approach at the plate, something that was already in place when he was a 17-year-old high school senior, and strong, quick wrists that let him commit later to pitches while still driving the ball to all fields. He gets good leverage in his swing and has plenty of loft to eventually produce 30-plus homers a year, and so far hasn't shown any tendency to expand the zone because he's trying too hard to hit for power. In the field, he has outgrown center but moves extremely well in right with good reads off the bat. And you can see from all of the above that he has a high baseball IQ, with good feel and/or instincts in every area of the game, especially for someone his age. He murdered Double-A pitching at age 19 in a 200-PA sample, and his career stat line reads .318/.391/.508, nearly all of which was compiled before he turned 20 in August. His swing isn't perfect -- he does bar his front arm very briefly -- but he's so strong and has such bat speed that the minor flaw has been irrelevant at every stop of his pro career. Everything else here points to stardom.

So, we all can plainly see that Heyward is expected to be a monster. Now, what I want to see is what everyone here at TC thinks he will do this season.

I'll start: .283/.350/.455/.805 - 16 HRs, 60-ish RBIs. I think he doesn't make the club out of ST, but gets called up as soon as his Super Two status is nullified, and starts immediately.

I am trying to temper my expectations, but admittedly, it is hard to do with someone of this nature. I hope he is mentally ready to handle the pressure.

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