RADIO
Jason Heyward 2020 Outlook: Skepticism Lingers After Surprising Return of Power
5 years agoJust when it seemed like everyone had universally accepted that Jason Heyward was going to go down in fantasy baseball history as a significant bust, he delivered his best power season in seven years. His 21 home runs were the most he hit since 2012. His 78 runs scored was his second-best total since the ’12 season. His Barrel % went from 2.9 to 5.9. He did make a sacrifice in strikeout rate, as that number leapt from 12.9 to 18.7, and his xBA of .269 was respectable. There is certainly no more elite speed in his game, as he finished with eight steals. A Sprint Speed of 27.5 does not indicate any notable increase back to previous 20-steal levels in that category. It seems we were already regarding Heyward as a has-been heading into last season, but he is only 30 years old. Yet we have been burned too often before to trust what we saw last season. His ADP of 478.79 clearly indicates the mixed league masses widely do not believe in what they saw from him last season. But he surely is worth the late or draft-and-hold choice when you consider his expectations have been massively lowered.
