Where Should Jason Heyward Hit in the Lineup?

I think Glaus slots perfectly in that position. Other than that, I voted 6th, but I don’t have a problem with him batting 3rd. I’d rather someone else bat 2nd…maybe Prado if McLouth ever hits like he should be able to, and I think McCann is a natural fit at 5th but he’s been struggling. So ideally 6th in my opinion if everyone is hitting the way I would think they should.

Personally I like him at 6th. He’s done his best work there (although the sample sizes are so small it’s pretty meaningless), and he just looks the most comfortable. His approach in the 2nd spot hasn’t impressed me.

Just because Heyward got off to the best start on the team does not mean that he is the team’s best hitter.

Heyward belongs in the 6th spot.

Didn’t Chipper even suggest that they switch spots until Chipper gets back to normal?

Jason Heyward by batting spot:

1: No PAs
2: .150 .227 .200 .427 (5 games, 22 PAs)
3: .429 .636 .571 1.208 (2 games, 11 PAs)
4: No PAs
5: 000 .000 .000 .000 (1 game, 4 PAs)
6: 359 .469 .846 1.316 (13 games, 49 PAs)
7: 244 .380 .463 .843 (12 games, 50 PAs)
9: .500 .500 .500 1.000 (2 games, 2 PAs) [Pinch-hitting]

Voted 3, although i prefer sixth. simply because i don’t see Bobby moving him back down anytime soon. Bobby has never been one to reverse a decision so quickly, especially if it involves admitting a bad choice. I wouldn’t mind Chipper second and Heyward third, just to see how it plays out for a few games.

I prefer 3 but think a Chipper, Glaus, McCann, Heyward lineup looks good as well.

6th.

He has absolutely shown he is best hitter on this team right now. Chipper didn’t even need to make those comments saying he would be fine switching to 2nd. Right now Chipper is the perfect 2 hole hitter. He can grind some ABs, takes a TON of walks and still has a little pop if need be. Heyward was made for pressure hitting. He has the maturity level to be the 3 hole guy now and for the next 15-20 years

Clean-up on aisle 6!

I voted 3rd because Chip gets on base so much, and once J-Hey gets into a groove in that slot with Sloth providing some protection behind him, that can be a scary top 4…

Imagine this:

1) Prado - OBP – .369
2) Chipper - OBP – .391

This means that on average 7 out of 10 times through the line-up, 1 of the 2 of them will be on base for J-Hey (who only has 2 GIDP) and the Slothasaurus.

3) God - SLG – .540
4) Sloth - SLG – .433

I know the statistics of the past are not guarantees of production in the future, but it just sounds so promising…

lol

I sincerely believe he would strive in the 3-hole.

I didn’t catch that until now.

3rd because Prado gets a lot of hits and chipper draws a ton of walks, and Heyward hits really well with men on base and that is likely the two guys who will be in front of him. 6th because he has well from that spot all year.

and no lower. Need to get this kid as many ABs as possible. Once he takes that 3rd spot, he won’t give it up for a loooooooong time.

It’s where he can get the most PAs, score the most runs (ie use his baserunning skills more), and probably drive in the most runs. I still think he needs to hit in front of Chipper for awhile. This isn’t the traditional way of doing things, which would be to of course stick him in the 3-hole, but it’s the more effective way.

Prado
Heyward
Chipper
Glaus
McCann
Hinske
Escobar
McLouth

Prado
Chipper
Escobar
Glaus
McCann
Heyward
Hinske/Melky
McLouth

i voted 2nd, while chipper with a high obp would be great to have in the #2 spot with all other items being equal, he isn’t what he used to be on the bases and i worry everytime he kicks it up a gear that hes going to pull something. Having jhey in front of chipper allows heyward an opportunity to steal bases also it keeps heyward from being stuck station to station behind chipper

I also like in the later innings when we flip the order around ph, prado, heyward followed by the meat of the order.

There is not a more dangerous or powerful hitter on this team. Plus, next to Chipper, he has the best eye on this team. He HAS to hit 3rd of 4th. He has too much power and too much on base skills to be wasted at 6th and lose 3-4 ABs a week.

On the flip side, Chipper has such an absence of power, that he in no way deserves the 3 spot anymore.

I’m not sure he can take it just yet, but considering how we are hitting he might just have to.

Heyward will eventually hit 3rd…no doubt about that. I don’t think it will come this year, and probably not until Chipper retires. however, I think with his RBI potential, he needs to hit 5th or 6th realistically. I can see batting him 4th, but I think that might put too much pressure on him just like batting him 2nd is sort of doing right now. I don’t care how mature he is, he’s still only 20 and slowly learning the pitchers in this league…we just need a better #7 hitter to hit behind him so he actually gets some pitches to hit. he needs to be hitting with runners on base though…bottom line.

Just some more numbers in this clusterfuck of a discussion

ISO: (Isolated Power)
Jason Heyward = .265
Chipper Jones = .136

wOBA: (Weighted On Base Average)
Jason Heyward = .409
Chipper Jons = .345

Now, what do you want out of the 3 hitter? To be able to hit for power (Heyward has the best on the team) and to be able to get on base for the cleanup hitter and 5 hitter (he has by far the highest wOBA)

Jason Heyward is begging, screaming, pleading for the 3 spot with the way he has been playing. Chipper Jones has a great eye and a great OBP, hence he would be perfect in the 2 spot to set up Heyward and the heart of the order.

The question I have, is has Heyward’s slump been caused by the promotion to the 2 hole, or is it a result of him being a human baseball player who is prone to occasional slumps?

Lineup positioning doesn’t matter all that much…Give me this lineup.
1. Heyward
2. Chipper
3. Escobar
4. McLouth
5. Hinske
6. McCann
7. Prado
8. Glaus

Purely random, and I bet it could score in the same ballpark as every lineup posted above

Chipper isn’t a great #3 hitter right now (no power) and with his eye, ability to take walks, ability to make contact, etc., he should be hitting second.
I’ve been saying that Bobby needs to hit Chipper in the 2 hole since Larry’s slump last year. ’course I also stumped for Matt Diaz to be our leadoff hitter this year, so what the fuck do I know?

i think we should leave Jason in the #2 hole. He went through a mini slump over this weekend and endured some bad luck (low BABIP) since being put in the #2 spot. So saying he should hit lower because he had a rough homestand so far is like saying Chipper shouldnt hit 3rd because he will have a .235 average the entire season. Lets let things work themselves out for a little while before we do anything drastic like hitting Heyward 3rd in the 2nd month of baseball.

Our line up as it is is gelling somewhat however i think the biggest problem is McCann hitting 4th. We have all said it time and time again that McCann is not a clean-up hitter. Glaus is more of a clean-up hitter and should be utilized as such. If Bobby made that one switch i think it would make our entire line-up better.

Escobar and McLouth should stay as our 7th and 8th hitters as well. Even if McLouth starts heating up him hitting 8th is really growing on me and Escobar is just a GB machine lately.

while i think heyward should be hitting 3rd and chipper 2nd, the braves are going nowhere unless bmac and chipper can start producing, no matter where they are in the lineup. this lineup can be quite good, but it relies on everybody producing.

One thing that seems pretty consistent above is Prado leading off…I feel like rest can be jumbled around and produce similar results, but I really, really like Prado at the top…I do like Glaus in the 4th spot over McCann…But this is a post about where Heyward should bat, so I’ll vote 3rd with Chipper batting 2nd and Glaus 4th, McCann 5th, Escobar 6th, Hinske #7th, McLouth #8th…

so he shouldn’t be hitting in the same spot everytime anyway

Eventually 3 hole
Now 6 hole

Direct quote from Chipper Jones

His aim this season, he said, was to groom Jason Heyward "to be the No. 3 hitter here for the next 20 years." Here Jones laughed. "Little did I know he was laughing to himself, saying, ‘I’m already ready.’ And I believe he is ready."

they have like 4 GTs a night….but they have like 300 comments in each of them. Maybe they have a bunch of 10-4s?

Send the entire lineup to the plate at the same time. Imagine how imposing THAT would be?
 
Added bonus: No Vidros.

I like him lower in the order. It prolongs the threat.

To lump Heyward in with a ‘normal’ 20-year old rookie is foolish. He’s clearly above the curve in terms of correcting errors, making adjustments, and sheer results.

The only downside I see to throwing Heyward into the fire (a high presure spot in the order) is that he’s making his first rounds through the NL. So basically every pitcher (except for Feliciano last night) he faces, is the first time!

No doubt about it, he’s clearly the best hitter on this team, already.

Prado
McLouth
Chipper
Glaus
McCann
Heyward
Hinske
Escobar
Pitcher

I’m perfectly fine with Heyward batting second, we’ve been playing well with him there, and in my eye, Chipper won’t be struggling like he is for much longer. Look at all his deep fly outs, doubles and walks. He is seeing the ball well, as he admitted, and hopefully it pays off soon.

As i’m writing this, Heyward is up with two men on (Mclouth, Prado), seems like a good spot for him, right? (He just grounded out). Chipper has been in the 3-hole a long time, and as a huge Chipper fan, i’m fine with him there. Heyward gets the most at bats, and comes up with usually somebody faster (Mclouth, PR in the 9th?, Prado) than he would batting 6th (Glaus, McCann), so he is able to use his speed on the base paths a bit too.

Mark my words, Chipper will start picking it up, and with a Prado/Heyward/Chipper/Mac/Glaus/Hinske lineup, if McCann (and Chipper) can pick it up, we might be the most dangerous.