With help from our good friends at Perfect Game, we kick off a new series today looking back at the careers of some prominent big leaguers before they were pros. First up…David Rawnsley on Jason Heyward.
Jason Heyward was one of the stars of the East Cobb Astros teams that dominated the summers and falls during the middle of the last decade. The teams were built around speed, defense and pitching and there in the middle of it stood 6-foot-4, 220-pound Jason Heyward.
Of course we know now that Heyward is a perfect piece to fit into that speed, defense and pitching puzzle. And there were hints of it from 2004 to 2007 as well, but only hints.
I first saw Heyward in the middle of his freshman year at the 2004 Perfect Game Underclass National Showcase. He was very young for his class and could have been an eighth grader based on his birthday. Here is the report that I wrote on him following the event:
Jason Heyward, OF, Cubs (Photo by Perfect Game USA)
Jason Heyward is an extremely young freshman from Georgia whose birth date says that he could easily be in the 8th grade. He has an outstanding athletic body already at 6-0, 170 lbs, with easy actions and about as much projectability as you’re going to see in a 14 year old. Don’t be surprised when Heyward ends up at 6-4, 210. Heyward hits from the left side with a quiet approach and load. He generates good bat speed with wood, and that bat speed is just going to get better. Heyward hits down and through the ball now and does an excellent job of making hard consistent contact. He had 3 hits during the games and was right on a couple of other balls. He will learn to loft the ball later; someone has done a great job of teaching him swing fundamentals to get started. Heyward is also an excellent athlete who runs well (4.4 to first) and shows very agile footwork around the first base bag. He has a good arm for a freshman, too. There’s no reason, physically, that he can’t end up playing in the outfield and become an outstanding defender. I’d be surprised if Heyward doesn’t emerge as one of the elite hitting prospects in his class in a couple of years.
Heyward alternately seems to tease and frustrate scouts and analysts today with the dichotomy between his size, obvious power potential and his relative lack of game power production. But there was no mistaking his power potential back when he was in high school. He would put on enormous power displays in batting practice, whether it was hitting balls over the right center field scoreboard at East Cobb Field 1 or over the National Guard shed beyond the right field fence at Brett Field in Fort Myers. During one game at the cavernous Stadium Field at Terry Park in Fort Myers, Heyward hit back to back triples off the high center field fence that has 410 feet marked on it but could well be longer. That is unlikely to ever happen again.
Because of the roster structure of the East Cobb teams, Heyward probably played first base about 75% of the time. He was projected to play the outfield as a professional, but there were plenty of scouts who weren’t sold on his ability to do so, although they would likely have memory lapses if asked today.
There was one play at the 2006 WWBA 17U National Championships that cemented any doubts about Heyward’s ability to play the outfield. It ranks among the top 5 amateur defensive plays that this scout has ever seen. East Cobb was in the semi-finals, and the game was tied in the bottom of the seventh. The opposing team had the bases loaded and one out; you couldn’t have created a more tense situation. The batter hit a medium-deep fly ball straight down the right field line. Heyward made a sliding, feet first catch while crossing the foul line, popped up immediately and fired a strike to nail the runner at home for the double play and send the game into extra innings. I was standing next to Perfect Game president Jerry Ford, and we just turned and looked at each other, speechless, while everyone around us went crazy.
In summarizing his background, it should definitely be noted that Heyward’s makeup was considered to be at least equal to his tools.
Jayson Heyward, OF, Cubs
Both his parents, Eugene and Laura, are Dartmouth graduates and Heyward was a quiet, intelligent, well spoken and very focused young man. He had a commitment to UCLA, which was considered a bit unusual a decade ago for a Georgia player, but it probably indicated Heyward’s desire to get out and see the world beyond Georgia.
The popular scout comp for Heyward during his high school days was Fred McGriff. I personally didn’t feel that was the best comp and wrote a couple of times that Willie McCovey was a better choice. Some might remember that McCovey came up as an outfielder with plus speed before a series of knee injuries early in his career sapped his athleticism. And McCovey’s swing matched Heyward more at that point as well.
Perfect Game had Jason Heyward ranked second in the 2007 class rankings just before the draft, right behind Rick Porcello and just ahead of Matt Harvey and Madison Bumgarner. Multiple members of the Braves scouting staff have told me that Atlanta had him ranked as second on their big board, just behind David Price, the eventual first overall pick. But Atlanta didn’t pick until 14th overall and had to wait out that many picks, including six high school players, until Heyward fell to them.
