While the world goes crazy about when Stephen Strasburg may be called up (June 4, ladies and gentlemen), do I need to remind you we already have a rookie phenom tearing it up in pro baseball? His name is Jason Heyward. You might know who he is.
Jason Heyward On Pace To Join Elite Company
If you don’t, you’ll know these names he’s now being associated with: Ted Williams, Mel Ott and Mickey Mantle -- just to name a few.
Dave Cameron of FanGraphs breaks down Heyward’s greatness:
A list:
Mel Ott, 1929: .328/.449/.635, 172 wRC+
Alex Rodriguez, 1996: .358/.414/.631, 169 wRC+
Ted Williams, 1939: .327/.436/.609, 168 wRC+
Al Kaline, 1955: .340/.421/.546, 160 wRC+
Frank Robinson, 1956: .290/.379/.558, 149 wRC+
Mickey Mantle, 1952: .311/.394/.530, 166 wRC+In the history of baseball, those are the six seasons where a player has posted an OPS over .900 as a 20-year-old. Of those six players, five are in the hall of fame, and the other guy will be when he’s done playing.
And now we have Heyward, who is batting .290/.409/.580 with a 166 wRC+. I don’t know about you, but I think this guy has got a future ahead of him.
This also bodes well for Major League Baseball. Every sport needs its icon. Every sport needs a class act to get behind to brand its product. Heyward is exactly that for the MLB. If Heyward continues to live up to the hype, and if he continues to be as much of a class act as he’s made out to be, his future, the MLB’s and, of course, the Braves’, is going to be bright.
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