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Chicago Cubs: Jason Heyward, Yu Darvish no longer a drag on payroll
Chicago Cubs: It’s been a battle for Heyward
Heyward’s path has been a little different. For the most part, he’s been healthy. A few stints on the IL here and there. But defensively, he’s been as advertised. The thing is, the Cubs weren’t paying for just his defense.
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In 2015, he slashed .293/.359/.439 and an OPS of .797. He had his highest OPS+ (117) since his rookie season (131.) When he got to Chicago, you could just about pencil it in your scorecard, 6-4. If he did anything else, you were surprised.
In 2016, he had ‘the speech’ that was never heard but talked about by players in-depth. When the Cubs went to a rain delay in Cleveland, the score tied and in extra-innings, Heyward gathered his team in the weight room and gave a speech that will live forever. That may have bought him a year. But another disappointing 2017, and people were starting to wonder.
This season, Heyward started hot. From the start of the season until April 30, he slashed .309/.426/.506 with an OPS of .932. Then, from May 1 to June 21, J-Hey cooled off. Like, downright frigid. He had a line of .217/.300/.354 and an OPS of .654. Some were like thinking ‘here we go again.’ But Heyward had other ideas.
From June 22 to July 20, Heyward is slashing .368/.407/.684 with an outstanding OPS of 1.092. He’s hit 15 home runs, the most since hit had 27 in 2012 with the Braves. Since June 1, Heyward has been the fourth-best hitter with RISP (.313) behind Javier Baez (.371), Willson Contreras (.345) and Kyle Schwarber (.333.)