Chicago Cubs: Jason Heyward’s bat has come alive

Chicago Cubs’ outfielder Jason Heyward is enjoying a bounce-back year at the plate in 2017 after a forgettable 2016.

There is no doubt Chicago Cubs‘ outfielder Jason Heyward struggled mightily at the plate last season. The 27-year-old Heyward signed an eight-year, $184 million deal with the Cubs before to the 2016 season.

When the Cubs signed Heyward, they knew he was not going to win any batting titles as he had never recorded an average over .293 in his career, or hit more than 27 home runs in a season. What the Cubs hoped for from Heyward was around a .260 batting average, solid OBP, 15-20 home runs, and a Gold Glove in right field. Heyward delivered on the Gold Glove, winning his fourth, but hit just .230 with seven home runs and 49 RBI.

Hard work pays off

Following the worst offensive season of his career, Heyward went to work in the off-season. Heyward lowered his hands from their position a year ago and worked to keep his bat more straight up and down.

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Through 44 games, Heyward’s work in the off-season is paying off. Heyward is slashing .264/.322/.415 on the year following Tuesday night’s game. In the Cubs’ 10-2 win over the Marlins, Heyward went 3-for-5 with two RBI.

Heyward’s slash line does not tell the full story of his success at the plate this season. According to Fangraphs, Heyward is hitting the ball on the ground less in 2017 (45.9 percent) compared to 2016 (46.2 percent). At the same time, Heyward is inducing more fly balls than he was a year ago. Fangraphs tells us that Heyward is hitting fly balls 36.3 percent of the time in 2017. That number is up from 33.3 percent in 2016.

Digging further into the numbers, one can see that Heyward is pulling the ball more this season (49.6 percent) than last (40.7 percent). This means that Heyward may become an easier out when teams shift. However, because he is hitting the ball harder (28.9 percent this season compared to 26.4 percent last season), and in the air more, that may not be the case.

Heyward’s defense has never wavered

As stated earlier, despite Heyward’s struggles at the plate last season, he maintained the high level of defense for which he is known. Heyward’s sparkling defensive season in 2016 included 18 defensive runs saved. In addition to that, Heyward committed only two errors in over 1,200 innings.

This season, Heyward is well on his way to capturing another Gold Glove. In 368 innings, Heyward has saved eight runs defensively, and only committed one error.

Combine Heyward’s defensive ability with his solid performance at the plate this season, and one can make a strong case for Heyward to be an All-Star.

In the latest National League All-Star Game ballot update, Heyward ranks third among outfielders. This would mean Heyward is well on his way to earning his second All-Star Game selection.

There is still a long road ahead

For Heyward, there is still much work to be done if he wants to get back to his 2015 form. Heyward’s 2015 season was perhaps his best offensive season. He slashed .293/.359/.439 with 13 home runs and 60 RBI. So far in 2017, Heyward has shown improvements. Despite this, it will take more time for him to fully recover from his 2016 campaign.

Still, Heyward’s accomplishments in 2017 should be praised. He has improved his OPS over one hundred points from a year ago and improved his OPS+ from 70 in 2016 to 96 in 2017.

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Only time will tell if Heyward has improved, or is just in the middle of a hot streak. For the Cubs, they hope Heyward can keep up his hot hitting ways, because he may be the answer at the top of the order in the future. Right now, however, Heyward will continue to hit in the bottom half of the line-up until he has thoroughly proven that he is back.