Chicago Cubs: What if players were characters from Star Wars?

Jason Heyward – Darth Vader

As a youngster playing for the Atlanta Braves, Jason Heyward was a joy to watch. That is, until he joined the St. Louis Cardinals, turning to the Dark Side and changing how I viewed him as a player.

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With St. Louis, he was an elite player – the whole package. He ran well, fired off a cannon on a near-nightly basis in right field and carried a bat filled with line drives. Then, after the 2015 season in which the Cubs knocked the Cardinals out of the postseason, he came to the Light.

Signing a franchise-record contract, Heyward came to Chicago, playing his part in the team’s 2016 World Series championship. Much the same as Vader turned from the Dark Side at the end of Return of the Jedi, Heyward redeemed himself when he joined the Cubs.

Another Vader quote from ‘Rogue One’ fits pretty well, too. “Be careful not to choke on your aspirations.” Heyward still has a long ways to go in his deal and, to many, he’s underperformed. His aspirations, I’m sure, remain as high as ever. But it’s imperative he follows Darth Vader’s advice to Director Orson Krennic and delivers moving forward.