Chicago Cubs: Top 3 players feeling the heat after team’s hot start

Chicago Cubs: Jason Heyward isn’t carrying his weight at the plate

Every year Cubs fans hope that the guy who pulled the team together to win the last game of the World Series in 2016, will pull himself together and finally deliver a performance worthy of his paycheck and reputation.

And every year we are disappointed again.

When will Jason Heyward wake up from the offensive fog he has lost himself in? It took 513 at-bats last season for Heyward to put up the most hits (129) he’s had in a single season since 2016. Although he did get the chances and the hits last season, he also put up 110 strikeouts, the most since 2012 when he was with the Atlanta Braves.

This season, Heyward has visited the plate some 37 times and while other teammates with similar visits are holding averages in the .200-.300 range; Heyward entered action on Tuesday with an almost laughable .189 average this season.

I’m not going to re-hash how much we paid for him and how much he has underperformed for that amount of money but you begin to wonder when Heyward is going to start taking batting as seriously as he does playing the outfield.

There’s almost no time I see a fly ball to right field and think Heyward is not going to get that ball but likewise there’s almost no time I feel like he is going to get a hit when he comes to bat. Most fans see Heyward as an automatic out when he comes to the plate whether it’s strikeout, flyout or groundout.

If Heyward can’t pull it together in the next few games, look to Ross to put someone in who is putting the bat on the ball, because Heyward is feeling the heat right now.