(Photo Courtesy Mark Susina via Flickr)

Heyward, Rebuilt From the Ground Up

Retooling a swing requires more than patience

Most Cubs fans know the name Jason Heyward, the home run hitting, gold glove center fielder for the Chicago Cubs. A name which you may not be familiar with is John Mallee (like Bailey), the hitting coach for the Chicago Cubs.

John Mallee is pouring over old video of Jason Heyward from his days back with the Atlanta Braves. He is desperately trying to get J-Hey to take a similar approach with stance, bat level, and timing to his current swing. The Cubs don’t call it a rebuilding, only a “retooling” for their superstar Center Fielder.

What Mallee attempts to correct is a mechanical problem. Yet, as Braves Hall of Famer Eddie Mathews used to say;

“It’s only a hitch when you’re in a slump. When you’re hitting the ball it’s called rhythm.”

Small hitches in a batters approach don’t necessarily fix a slump. Some batters have what should be a mechanically deficient swing, but are consistently making contact.

It is the rhythm to which Eddie Mathews was referring that is unique to every ballplayer. There are more aspects to rebuilding a home run swing (or even a contact swing at this point) than just “Try to do what you did when you came up from the minors.”

This approach is narrow sighted in that there are three phases to hitting that must be evaluated and thoroughly executed before any improvement can take hold. Old habits die hard, and none harder than that of a batter in Major League Baseball.

John Mallee grew exhausted of Losing in Houston, so he joined the Cubs in 2014 (Photo Courtesy Keith Allison via Flickr)

Some Cubs fans may not know the name Alex Gordon, the left field slugger for the Kansas City Royals. Even fewer will know the name Kevin Seitzer, who was the hitting coach for the Royals from 2009 to 2012.

Seitzer was the man who was instrumental in retooling Gordon’s swing and rebuilding what looked like a lost career in the batter’s box. The Royals put Seitzer up to the task of saving the phenom outfielder, and stop what had been a downhill slide in batting statistics since Alex had hit rock bottom in 2009 at a paltry .215/.355/.671 when he was sent to the minors.

Kevin Seitzer took Alex under his wing, and retooled him from focusing primarily on home runs, to focusing on squaring up and driving the ball back up the middle.

The approach worked, but not in the way Royals management wanted. They were looking to market a slugger who would break the Royals franchise home run record of 36 set back in 1985 by Steve Balboni (go ahead and Google him, I’ll wait).

In 2012 Alex Gordon hit .294/.455/.822 and led the league in doubles (51). But Gordon’s 14 home runs weren’t enough for Royals front office, and Seitzer was fired as hitting coach at the end of the 2012 season.

Still the Royals Home Run Champ to this Day, and dat mustache doe! (Photo Courtesy beisbolsinaloa via Flickr)

When a player’s approach at the plate is mechanically altered, the expectations of fans and the front office can be off from what actually happens following the adjustment.

Making more contact does not necessarily lead to home runs, but it leads to a better outcome for a Cubs team that is suffering through a hole in the lineup for their Gold Glove center fielder.

Alex Gordon peaked in career in home runs at 23 in 2011.

Mechanical problems, while they may play a role, don’t entirely encompass the causality of what has been a slow slide into mediocrity by a player who has Hall of Fame potential.

Cub’s manager Joe Maddon compares the mental aspect of the huge $184 million dollar contract Heyward signed, and the pressure brought to bear, with another Cubs player who underwent a similar slump the year previous.

Pitcher Jon Lester had tremendous pressure to be the Cubs ace after signing his $155 million mega-deal in 2015, an aspect that did not rectify itself until the following year when he finished top four in Cy Young Award Voting. Maddon points out that this mental pressure took time to be alleviated, and as manager he has patience with players who need to work through mental blocks in order to rediscover success.

“I’m keeping this until you hit over .250 Jason” -Maddon takes a more direct approach (Photo Courtesy planetexpress via Flickr)

Maddon has made his bones doing what good managers do, have patience with players who are having performance issues, and give them the tools to work through it.

Putting Heyward in the batting order during the World Series showed the supreme confidence Maddon had in his players, that even though he was in the low .100’s in batting average, Heyward was still able to use his glove in the field to help the Cubs win the series.

While Mallee thinks Heyward’s problems are mechanical, and Maddon takes the mental approach, there is a third aspect to Heyward’s hitting issues that nobody has taken into account.

Pitchers are adjusting to Jason Heyward.

Tony Gwynn was arguably the greatest hitter in modern baseball. He would study tapes for hours to see a pitchers approach at the plate, learning pitching progressions, and kill pitches.

He would modify his approach to the pitcher, and use his knowledge of pitch tendencies to reach a batting average of .338 for his career.

Hitting for Average might not be sexy, but it will get statues built outside of ballparks (Photo Courtesy John Doukas via Flickr)

In all sports, being a prospect with unseen talent is huge; players often find great success in their first year, but then return and hit the “sophomore slump” the following year.

This is a pattern because teams adjust to players abilities. Scouting reports are created, film is reviewed, it is a never ending process for coaches and managers to see exactly what the tendencies of the opposition are and exploit weaknesses.

It’s not about having talent that makes you a great player in professional sports, it is a players ability to adjust to those making adjustments on his playing style.

This is why Cubs players are projected to do less in 2017 than they were in 2016; teams have been watching film and looking for weaknesses to exploit throughout the winter. The Cubs are a good team, but it will be their ability to adjust to those adjustments is what could turn them into a dynasty.

Heyward has a three stage process for returning to super slugger status.

He must first fix his mechanical deficiencies; stop trying to homer on every pitch and start trying to drive the ball back up the middle.

He must second alleviate mental blocks which have been hanging over his head with both his large contract as well as fan outrage at his continuing hitting slump — even into spring training.

He must third learn to adjust to those adjusting to his hitting approach. This is the most important aspect. It is in these adjustments that good players become great players, or they become just another guy who couldn’t hack it in the majors.

J-Hey is a Man who is driven to perform at a higher level (Photo Courtesy Arturo Pardavila III via Flickr)

I see Heyward’s desire. I watched him move to Arizona for the winter to work with John Mallee and the cubs hitting staff.

He wants to get better.

But Cubs fans need to temper expectations, we might have to accept that the J-Hey kid won’t climb back up to 27 home runs he had with the Braves.

But could the Wrigley faithful accept a contact hitter who could turn doubles and steal bases, becoming an asset in the batter’s box? Most Cubs fans remember Alfonso Soriano, and the angst that his free-swinging ways put us in agony as he would hit 34 home runs, but strike out 156 times.

Would Theo and Joe rather have a player who can hit for high average, or a strikeout artist who can hit the ball over the wall?

I would rather have the former. And I think if we are honest with ourselves, that looks to me to be where Heyward will land in the short term. That is, if he can right the ship.

But at the end of the day, it is the man Jason Heyward sees in the mirror that has to make the change. If he wants to be a contact hitter, or if he can rediscover old magic and start hitting the ball over the wall again, it is entirely dependent on the six inches between his ears.

All we can do is have faith, hold our breath, and watch with anticipation as Jason Heyward steps into the batter’s box.

Big Ben Martin has a big deep love for his Chicago Cubs. They say that everything is bigger in Texas, and based on Big Ben’s love for the Cubs we would have to agree. When not playing the role of Big Ben he might be found as his alter ego Big Cynical Ben on Twitter.