Chicago Cubs: Jason Heyward On Track To Proving Doubters Wrong
Chicago Cubs’ outfielder Jason Heyward is hitting the ball extremely well to begin the 2017 regular-season. This is a great sign, for a player who’s trying to live up to his eight-year, $184 million contract, signed back in December 2015.
Having a rough first season as a member of the Chicago Cubs in 2016, Jason Heyward appears to finally be putting his past hitting woes behind him. After all, it’s 2017. Thus, a new season, offering everyone a fresh start.
Heyward batted just .230 in an up-and-down 2016 season for him. That led to manager Joe Maddon benching him multiple times throughout the regular and postseason.
Never lacking in confidence, Heyward set his sights on improving his swing this past offseason. He altered his batting stance, hoping to put forth a more authoritative swing on incoming pitches. Something he wasn’t doing consistently in 2016.
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While the results rarely showed up in the box score, throughout Spring Training, Heyward clearly was hitting balls a lot harder than usual. And sure enough, the same can be said for the regular season thus far.
Sure, it’s only been one week. But so far, heading into Monday night’s home opener against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Heyward’s leading the team in batting average.
He’s seeing the ball extremely, striking out just once in 21 at-bats. In addition, Heyward is driving in runs. Encouraging signs for Cubs fans, coaches, and players to see.
In baseball, patience often gets lost in the shadows, even though there are 162-plus games a year. Heyward, unfortunately, is held to a higher standard than some of his teammates because of the mega-contract he’s playing under.
While his defense has remained stellar in the outfield since putting on a Cubs uniform, offense is ultimately what fans look forward to seeing on an everyday basis. That’s what Heyward, for the most part, has been lacking.
If Heyward can continue improving his hitting as this season rolls around, Cubs fans will forget all about his past struggles. His doubters will thus turn into supporters.
With Heyward though, it’s all about patience. Fans need to recognize that. It’s a long season. There will be plenty of ups and down moments with him. After all, hitting slumps come and go for all players.
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Even if he makes outs, if they’re loud ones, that’s a great sign for Heyward. It means he’s swinging with more authority. Thus improving from a season ago.
Exactly what he set out to do, beginning this past offseason.