The Next Big Thing In The A-Town

JASON HEYWARD
Bats: Left
Throws: Left
Height: 6'5"
Weight: 240 lbs.
2010 Age: 20

I said the sky is the limit for Brian McCann in the first profile post. The universe is the limit for Jason Heyward.

Okay, I may have exaggerated that a little bit. Still, Jason Heyward is the most talked-about outfield prospect the Braves have had in a while. Unlike Jeff Francoeur, who struggled with plate discipline, or Mike Kelly, the Braves' #2 pick in the 1991 draft who couldn't hit for average in the pros, Heyward appears to be the complete package.

Taken with the 14th pick of the 2007 Draft, Heyward went straight out of Henry County High Schoool in McDonough, Georgia to the pros. As a 17-year old, Heyward batted .302/.354/.488 in 17 games with the GCL Braves and Danville.. The outfielder spent most of the 2008 season with the Low Class A Rome Braves. His .316/.381/.473 season with 27 doubles and 11 homers earned him an early promotion to the High Class A Myrtle Beach Pelicans.

The 2009 season proved to be where Heyward slugged his way onto the organization's fast track. Despite dealing with nagging injuries, Jason batted around in 49 games in Myrtle Beach; he put up a .296/.369/.519 line in 49 games. He did even better in Class AA Mississippi, hitting .352/.446/.611 in 47 games. The Braves organization promoted him to Gwinnett to help the International League club with their playoff push. With a successful seven-game stint, Heyward finished the year with a .323/.408/.555 line with 25 doubles, four triples and 17 home runs (422 PAs).

Last season, all Braves right fielders put up a line of:

.276/.335/.408, 28 2B, 4 3B, 15 HR, 80 RBI, 43/120 BB/K

The three main contributors to those stats were:

Jeff Francoeur: 322 PA, .248/.280/.351, 12 2B, 2 3B, 5 HR, 35 RBI, 12/46 BB/K
Matt Diaz: 269 PA, .322/.398/.507, 11 2B, 2 3B, 9 HR, 36 RBI, 19/60 BB/K
Ryan Church: 77 PA, .231/.351/.308, 2 2B, 0 3B, 1 HR, 8 RBI, 12/12 BB/K

Heyward is extremely capable of putting up a Rookie of the Year-type season for the Braves.

STAT PROJECTIONS:

Bill James - 601 PA, .303/.371/.465, 27 2B, 5 3B, 17 HR, 86 R, 78 RBI, 59 BB, 64 K

CHONE - 340 PA, .258/.324/.416, 16 2B, 3 3B, 9 HR, 39 R, 36 RBI, 28 BB, 59 K

PECOTA - 471 PA, .277/.350/.473, 25 2B, 4 3B, 16 HR, 67 R, 54 RBI, 45 BB, 79 K

Rotowire - 142 AB, .275/.356/.451, 5 HR, 23 R, 21 RBI, 18 BB, 23 K

Yahoo! - 446 AB, .278/.339/.439, 15 HR, 67 R, 65 RBI, 42 BB, 80 K

SAM'S PICK - PECOTA - I think that Heyward would get more than 471 PA this season. It's the slash stats that I agree with the most. Although I love what Bill James came up with, I don't think Heyward is going to do that well his first year in the league. Heyward's actual production, if he remains healthy, would be somewhere between PECOTA and Bill James.

EDIT: Updated timestamp

BRAVES PLAYER PROFLIES: He's Caught On

BRIAN McCANN
Bats: Left
Throws: Right
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 210 lbs.
2010 Age: 26

The sky's the limit.

In just a few short seasons, Brian McCann has become the top catcher in the National League. He isn't quite in the discussion for best catcher in the majors yet. That distinction belongs to the Twins' Joe Mauer. McCann does belong in the discussion for second best, where his main competition is Boston's Victor Martinez.

The 2009 season nearly became a disaster for the young backstop. After dealing with blurriness in his left eye thanks to complications from his 2007 LASIK surgery, McCann went on the disabled list on April 25th. Trying contact lenses and visiting eye doctors didn't work, as his batting average dipped to .195 leading up to his DL stint.

After playing two games with Class A+ Myrtle Beach and one with Class AAA Gwinnett, McCann returned to action sporting the new lenses. At first, he wore a hockey-style mask with the new glasses, but eventually he switched to wearing a different pair of glasses when going back to his regular catcher's mask.

The glasses helped McCann return his production to his established levels, as he rebounded to finish the season with a .281/.349/.486 line. McCann led the Braves with 21 home runs and 94 RBIs and finished second on the team in slugging percentage. After the season, McCann underwent the LASIK procedure again to correct the problems in his left eye.

McCann was the Braves' cleanup hitter for 114 games last season. However, with Troy Glaus in the lineup, it's likely that McCann will be hitting fifth. Braves manager Bobby Cox, who is entering his final season of managing, prefers to break up consecutive lefty and righty batters.

ALREADY IN GOOD COMPANY: In baseball history, among catchers during their first five years of their career (450 games minimum), McCann is first in doubles (158), third in RBI (389), third in slugging percentage (.497), fourth in home runs (91), sixth in OPS (.853), and seventh in sacrifice flies (22).

THEY REALLY DO MAKE HIM LOOK SMARTER: Before having procedures to fix complications of his LASIK surgery, McCann had slumped to a .195/.333/.415 line in 51 plate appearances. After getting the surgery fixed, McCann returned to action, though he had to wear eyeglasses the rest of the season. He returned to his normal levels of hitting, with a .289/.350/.492 line in 500 plate appearances.

BIGGER (ALL-)STAR: McCann joined Joe Torre (1963-67) and Del Crandall (1953-56) as the third catcher in Braves history to be named to four straight NL All-Star teams. However, McCann has never been named as a starter. Torre was named the NL's starter four times and Crandall five times.

HE CAN RUN TOO!: McCann is tied for the Atlanta club lead with 12 stolen bases by a catcher, on equal footing with Bruce Benedict. In franchise history, McCann is in 13th place, 43 swiped bases behind Boston Braves catcher Hank Gowdy.

PROJECTED STATISTICS

In this section, several projections of each Braves player's statistics will be displayed. The sources include:

- Famed baseball statistician Bill James' projections
- Sean Smith's CHONE Projection system
- Baseball Prospectus' PECOTA projection system
- Rotowire.com
- The Sporting News
- Yahoo! Fantasy Baseball

After each projection is listed, I'll pick which one I believe McCann will meet (or exceed) in the 2010 season.

Bill James - 576 PA, .291/.362/.511, 41 2B, 1 3B, 24 HR, 69 R, 100 RBI, 54 BB, 78 K

CHONE - 550 PA, .291/.358/.502, 37 2B, 1 3B, 22 HR, 62 R, 93 RBI, 47 BB, 74 K

PECOTA - 575 PA, .287/.363/.497, 31 2B, 1 3B, 25 HR, 66 R, 103 RBI, 56 BB, 77 K

Rotowire - 498 AB, .285/.350/.530, 27 HR, 69 R, 99 RBI, 50 BB, 75 K

TSN - 492 AB, .289/.357/.504, 22 HR, 63 R, 91 RBI, 51 BB, 69 K

Yahoo! - 516 AB, .291/.357/.504, 24 HR, 71 R, 88 RBI, 51 BB, 82 K

SAM'S PICK - CHONE. I don't see McCann slugging much more than .502, though he may do it given his talent. Sixty total extra base hits and below fifty walks make sense; McCann usually focuses on hitting and doesn't have to draw a walk. His career isoOBP (OBP minus AVG) is a respectable .063, which CHONE nearly mirrors in the 2010 projection (.067).

Icon SMI photo by Mitch Stringer

EDIT: Updated date and time, added Baseball-Reference.com link