Prodigy Heyward May 'Wow' His Way to Atlanta on Opening Day

KISSIMMEE, Fla. -- Unlike almost any other great athlete who grows up in Georgia, Jason Heyward never hit the gridiron.

"I don't like football," Heyward said Wednesday.

No, Jason Heyward isn't just an athlete. He's a ballplayer.

Undistracted by other sports, Heyward developed baseball instincts. And it's that savvy -- and mental makeup -- in addition to top-of-the-scale ability, that have Heyward a threat to make the Braves' Opening Day roster at age 20.

"I would be shocked if he didn't go north with us," Chipper Jones declared.

No 20-year-old has gotten 400 plate appearances in a big-league season after 50 or fewer games above Single-A since Ken Griffey Jr. in 1989.

Oh, the Braves are saying publicly they haven't decided whether Heyward will make the team. Asked if Heyward (FanHouse's No. 4 prospect in the game) has to play his way off the roster or on to it, manager Bobby Cox and general manager Frank Wren hedged.

"I would be shocked if he didn't go north with us."
-- Chipper Jones on Jason Heyward Cox: "Our statement is, we're going to give him a chance to make the team. We'll see. He's awfully young, we know that, but he's awfully talented. And he's got skills."

Wren: "It's not how he performs, necessarily, here that's going to determine whether he's on this club or not. It's, if at the end of spring training, collectively, we all feel like it's the best thing for him and the organization. And if it is, he will. And if we think there's something to be gained for him to go in the minor leagues, we'll send him down."

But Jones let the cat out of the bag.

"It says a lot that the brass has given him the job at 20 years old coming into spring training," Jones said. "The Braves organization, they're pretty good at what they do, as far as evaluating talent. And when they just give a guy a job for him to lose, he's legit. They wouldn't say that if he wasn't ready. I trust them. And I see what they're talking about."

How remarkable would it be for Heyward to become a regular, less than three years after being drafted out of Henry County High School and with 876 minor-league at-bats (three above Double-A)?

In the past 10 years, just two players in their age-20 season -- Heyward can drink legally come Aug. 9 -- have made 400-plate appearances: Justin Upton in 2008 and Elvis Andrus last year.



In the past 45 years, only three players have hit 20 or more major league homers at age 20: Bob Horner in 1978, Griffey in 1990 and another Mariner you may have heard of, Alex Rodriguez (1996).

Heyward is another of those multi-talented types, with arm strength and speed and power. The Braves list him at 6-foot-5 and 240 pounds.

"I wish I had that body," Jones said. "Wow."

Heyward looks as if he could dominate at basketball or football, but growing up, he resisted any lure from other sports to concentrate on baseball.

"A lot of summer ball, a lot of camps, a lot of showcases," he said. "I was fortunate to learn the game at a young age. ... I started doing the [fundamental] stuff when I was like eight."

At Champions Stadium, ... there are plans to erect a net over the employee parking lot because Heyward has been bombing batting-practice homers onto the cars. Which are 40-50 feet past the right-field fence.
As a result, as Cox said, "He can help you when he's not hitting. He's one of those guys. ... Instinctively, he is way ahead of the game at his age."

In Tuesday's Grapefruit League opener against the Mets, Heyward twice went from first to second on pitches in the dirt -- "how you teach it," Cox said, "but nobody does it. He does it."

On Wednesday, he scored from second on a grounder that ate up Mets second baseman Anderson Hernandez and dribbled just onto the outfield grass.

"He's just a very bright kid," Jones said. "That's the one thing that stands out to me. You can tell he was raised right. He's got two Ivy Leaguers for parents."

(Eugene Heyward, an electronics engineer, and Laura Heyward, a quality analyst, went to Dartmouth.)

It's rare for someone to start two straight games right out of the gate in spring training, but Heyward played again Wednesday -- another indication the Braves are force-feeding him to speed up his trip to Atlanta.

"I want to see him," Cox said. "I want the fans to see him."

Batting fifth Wednesday, behind Jones and Troy Glaus, the left-handed-swinging Heyward walked, popped up -- he didn't get fooled by a curve but just missed driving it -- and laced a line-drive double to right-center.

Heyward also had an interesting day in right field. He had to use his speed to chase down a first-inning Angel Pagan fly that the wind carried and then ran in for Alex Cora's short pop ("He had an unbelievable jump on that ball," Cox said. "He made it look easy and that ball wasn't that easy."). Later Heyward slipped on the grass before diving to make a catch.

At Champions Stadium, where the Braves play spring training games, there are plans to erect a net over the employee parking lot because Heyward has been bombing batting-practice homers onto the cars.

Which are 40-50 feet past the right-field fence.

"I got a feeling he's going to 'Wow' us a few times this year," Jones said.

Jones is just feeding a hype machine that kicked into gear last year when Heyward hit .352 with 24 extra-base hits and more walks than strikeouts in his 47-game promotion to Double-A. The drumbeat has gotten even louder this spring.

Heyward insists the hype doesn't affect him because "I'm not getting any hype. It's not like it's in my face. It's not sitting next to me. It's on the media, it's on TV, it's online, but it's not sitting next to me. I'm just playing baseball."

He said he's just getting ready for the regular season and not trying to earn a big-league roster spot.

"The focus is always the same focus for me," he said. "It's never changed. The goal is to be in the major leagues, and that's been the same goal since I've been drafted. And right now, spring training is to get ready for the season. That's the only goal."

Heyward first opened eyes as a non-roster invitee last spring training, and that foot-wetting experience made him comfortable in this year's camp.

"I think the best way for him to come in here and make an impact," Jones said, "is to play the game the right way to begin with. That's how you earn the respect of your teammates. And then go out and just let his natural ability take care of itself.

"Cause he's got a world of it."