Chicago Cubs: Is Jason Heyward the ‘X-factor’ moving forward?

With the Chicago Cubs still trailing the San Diego Padres 8-7 in the eighth inning on Tuesday night, Jason Heyward strolled to the plate to face Padres right-hander Andres Munoz.

On paper, this was not a good matchup. The Chicago Cubs Jason Heyward has typically struggled against power pitchers, and Andres Munoz had dominated opposing hitters with a lively fastball since being called up in July. The matchup seemed even less likely to yield anything positive for the Cubs given Heyward’s horrific August.

Heyward hit over .300 in both June and July, but he posted a paltry slash line of .156/.276/.311 last month. His ground ball percentage skyrocketed to 57 percent while his line drive percentage plummeted to just 13 percent.

But with the Cubs needing another big swing of the bat after Bryant had homered off of Munoz to cut San Diego’s lead to one, Heyward did not disappoint. He turned around on a fastball and launched it over the centerfield wall to tie the game.

In case you have not noticed, Heyward is showing signs of busting out of his slump. After going 1-for-32 over a nine-game span at the end of August and beginning of September, Heyward has tallied six hits, three homers–two on Tuesday night–and six RBI in his last three games.

Most of the focus is going to be on Kris Bryant‘s health (though he looked just fine after hitting a pair of homers on Wednesday as well). And the absence of Javier Baez heading into the home stretch. However, Heyward could be the X-factor in this Cubs lineup as Chicago looks to make up ground in the National League Central.

Chicago Cubs: What if Heyward replicated his June numbers?

The Cubs had their second-highest scoring month in June, and Heyward was right at the center of their offensive production. Heyward slashed .326/./.379/.589 with six homers, 17 RBI and a 146 wRC+ value. In what was yet another boom-bust month for the offense, Heyward was the constant.

However, Chicago’s lineup has a different dynamic now.

Ben Zobrist has been fantastic at the leadoff spot since he returned to action. Nicholas Castellanos and Kyle Schwarber are continuing to rake, and both Nico Hoerner and Tony Kemp figure in bringing more contact to the plate with Baez on the shelf. Not to mention, Willson Contreras has returned with a vengeance.

Heyward’s ability to produce from the bottom of the lineup is more imperative now than ever before. If he can be a table-setter for the likes of Castellanos and Rizzo, the Cubs are naturally going to score more because of how good those guys are with runners in scoring position.

Chicago Cubs: Heyward could change dynamically as a clutch hitter

The Cubs are undoubtedly going to be in some tight games in the final weeks, and Heyward needs to start producing.

Before his heroics on Wednesday night, Heyward was slashing just .174/.318/.290 in high-leverage situations, and .203/.318/.270 in all situations deemed “Late & Close.”

However, Heyward can drastically alter the narrative by becoming a more reliable hitter in crunch time. He proved as much on Wednesday.

Heyward is still running one of the highest walk rates of his career, and although he struggled mightily in August his hard contact rate was still fairly average.

Chicago desperately needs to build momentum if they hope to catch the Cardinals in the National League Central, and Heyward could be the guy that puts the lineup over the top.