Jason Heyward – Making a Name

It looks like mlb.com’s Number 1 prospect, Jason Heyward, isn’t a prospect any more.  In case you haven’t heard, he’s big (6’4″, 245 lbs), can run, can hit for average and power and is above average fielder in right field.  He’s got outstanding speed for a big man and could be the next big thing.  He’s only 20 years old and has spent 3 seasons in the minors.  And after cruising through all three levels of the minors last year, JH was named Baseball America’s 2009 Minor League Player of the Year.

Heyward’s been hitting the heck out the ball in the Grapefruit League this spring (check out this 450 foot blast) in the seventh slot for the Atlanta Braves, and it looks like he’ll be making the big club when the teams head north.

He’s the leading candidate for Rookie of the Year honors (sorry Steven Strasburg), and I predict he won’t be hitting seventh for long.  Future Hall of Famer, Chipper Jones usually hits third and this spring, long-time lame duck manager, Bobby Cox, has been hitting slugger Troy Glaus, in the clean up spot.  Moving Heyward up to 5th would give the Braves a lefty/righty/lefty combination in the 3, 4, and 5 spots.

If Chipper rebounds from a subpar 2009, Troy Glaus stays healthy and Heyward reaches ROTY status, the Braves should have the weapons to support their better-than-average starting pitching (Derek Lowe, Jair Jurrjens, Tommy Hanson, Tim Hudson, and Kenshin Kawakami) and make them one of the top teams in National League.

The key to the Braves’ resurgence will be how quickly the hard-working Heyward reaches his sky-is-the-limit potential.