Number 8 on the list comes to us via Major League Baseball which, much like the NBA, is going through a bit of a resurgence of young talent. The Jeters and ARods of the world are getting older and perhaps at the forefront of the influx of young talent is our next guy on the list - Jason Heyward. Some may see him as a bit too high on this list, but based on his potential and what he was able to do already in MLB I think he is deserving of the spot.
Baseball scouts began to take notice of Heyward as a young 1st baseman at Henry County High School, about 30 miles south of Atlanta, GA. Prior to that he was a young standout in youth travel leagues in the Atlanta area. He played so much baseball as a youngster that his father left his engineering job and became a consultant so he could set his own schedule around Jason's baseball games and practices. (Good move, old man.) The Atlanta Braves made Heyward their first selection in the 2007 MLB draft, #14 over all.
Heyward tuned up minor league pitchers from the jump, and it was painfully evident that he was just cooling his heels and biding his time before Atlanta made the call for him to join the big club. That call finally came after Heyward secured the Opening Day job in Right Field, in what should be his spot for the next decade or so.
Heyward burst on the scene in Atlanta in the most prolific way imaginable. I'm pretty sure the Atlanta tv guys had orgasms in the booth as they witnessed his first ever big league at-bat. (Sorry you can't hear the TV call...MLB sucks like that)
Check it out...
"Welcome to the show..." indeed! *Apologies for the "home video".*
(I'll say it again...MLB really needs to stop being youtube Nazis! They wonder why they're having trouble growing the game and spreading into urban areas. NBA, NFL, NHL all embrace the youtube generation while baseball remains crusty.)
You gotta love when someone steps up and delivers on all the hype, and Heyward did that and some as a rookie in 2010. If I told you that throughout the season Heyward would battle through knee and thumb injuries and spent the month of June hitting .181 you would probably assume that his rookie season was a disaster. Yet, that couldn't be any further from the truth. He finished the year with a robust .277 average - very respectable considering it was his first look at big league pitching - and a .456 slugging and a .393 OBP. His numbers in the 2nd half got even better. After the break he hit .302 and had an OPS of .876. All that was good for runner-up in the National League Rookie of the Year Award (Buster Posey). Had he not spent some time on the 15 day DL in the middle of the summer, Heyward would likely have been the winner. He did however, win the Baseball America Rookie of the Year and was also named to the Topps All-Rookie team.
Heyward, has drawn comparisons to players like Ken Griffey Jr and even Hank Aaron for his 5 tool ability and the way he sprays line drives all over the field. He has a chance to be among those ranks when his career is all said and done. He only needs to avoid the injuries that held Griffey back from being a Top 5 all-time player. His ceiling is THAT high. In the next decade or so baseball fans should be hearing plenty from Mr. Heyward, and Atlanta fans are hoping that he can help usher in the next great era in Braves baseball. At just 21 years old he definitely has time on his side.
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