Jason Heyward’s Numbers Look Like Darryl Strawberry’s
December 25, 2012 at 9:00 am by Ben Duronio under Atlanta Braves
Of all the comparisons we heard about Jason Heyward as an up-and-coming prospect, one I seldom heard was Darryl Strawberry. In an article for RotoGraphs, my colleague Chris Cwik compares the numbers of Heyward to Strawberry (and also Justin Upton). Given Strawberry’s 6″6 frame, left-handedness, and dynamic athleticism, the comparison has a lot of steam.
At the close of their age-22 seasons, Strawberry recorded a wOBA of .359 compared to Heyward’s mark of .350. Add in the fact that Heyward is a much better defender, and you get a player of similar value who got it going in the majors at a very young age. Strawberry too was a high walk, high strikeout batter who hit home runs and stole bases in the 20′s annually. While Heyward’s legs really just got going this year, he could certainly elevate his game to 30/30 levels as Strawberry did in his age-25 season.
Everyone knows the issues Strawberry ran into that derailed his career, but seeing how he developed and progressed gives confidence in Heyward continuing to move forward as a hitter. I am sure most are confident that he will be great, but his sophomore year may force some to project him with caution.
Strawberry ended his career with a 137 wRC+ after posting a rookie mark of 131 at age-21. If Heyward ended up with a similar career rate after starting his career off with a 134 mark as a 20-year-old rookie, he will likely be a Hall-of-Fame quality player. It is of course early to project or expect that, but we have seen a very similarly sized and talented player move forward in an impressive way in the past and I will be surprised if Heyward doesn’t develop in a similar manner.
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I have actually heard a lot of Strawberry comparisons when Jason came to the majors. That seemed to be to comparison I heard the most actually and yes if Jason can parallel Strawberry on the field and keep doing what he seems to be doing off of it(good decisions) he will be a VERY good to great player.
Luckily for Jason, Medlen’s partying looks like its limited to mostly Xbox and mountain dew, and I doubt Freddie or Uggla have much in common with Keith Hernandez in that regard.
Dude…hold ur tongue…Keith Hernandez was on Seinfeld.