Baseballs Next Phenom: Justin Upton or Jason Heyward?

[JBH3]

Re: Baseballs Next Phenom: Justin Upton or Jason Heyward?

I liked this thread better when it was about Upton and Heyward and not some other random baseball player that no one was trying to discuss in this thread.

Too bad that only lasted two posts. Thanks guys.

LOL. Yea...Matt Wieters is great and all, but he doesn't need/require mention in any thread talking about young players.

....but thanks JJ......

[CMH]

Re: Baseballs Next Phenom: Justin Upton or Jason Heyward?

LOL. Yea...Matt Wieters is great and all, but he doesn't need/require mention in any thread talking about young players.

....but thanks JJ......

I can't tell if you're laughing at me or with me. Damn words!

But, yes, I fully expect that other young players will come up in conversation, but this was about Upton and Heyward and it turned into a Matt Weiters thread. We've already had one of those and he's been discussed forever.

I was really hoping to get some input from some Braves fans and NL East guys on Heyward, but apparently that's not going to happen because people rather talk about Weiters.

So, yea, I'm disappointed because this thread went in another direction.

edit: Rather than complain, I should help.

I think Jason Heyward is going to be an amazing ballplayer. I hate the term "he's a baseball player" (because everyone is), but I know that someone is going to use it and understanding what they're trying to say, I'll agree.

One thing that immediately jumped at me is his James Loney approach to the plate. Now Loney has somewhat struggled with his average - he was supposed to be a .320 hitter and instead he's a .290-.300 hitter (still very good), but Loney oozed confidence the moment he stepped on a baseball field. He's the type of guy I can see begging the pitcher to throw the same pitch again so he can show him he's going to hit it. I see that with Heyward. The plate is his home and he's just taking swings.

I'm not sure how much power he will have at 20 - he only hit 17 homeruns in AAA for a guy that hits moon shots - but I expect that the power will continue to develop as he gets older.

I see a lot of Ryan Howard power in him with a bit more agility and what seems like a talent to hit over .300. Howard is probably stronger and unfortunately for him, the Phillies kept him in AAA for too long, so Heyward is going to probably be better than Ryan by the time he reaches his age.

As for Upton: explosive player with great skills. Definitely the type of guy you envision being one of the best all-around players. He can hit and run and has power. I don't know about his arm, but I do know that some fielding metrics suggest that he's getting better every year on the field.

I think Arizona stole him at his price. I'm not even sure what Upton and his agent were thinking, honestly. He should have asked for $10-15 MM more in total package.

[Nike Fattz]

Re: Baseballs Next Phenom: Justin Upton or Jason Heyward?

I can't tell if you're laughing at me or with me. Damn words!

But, yes, I fully expect that other young players will come up in conversation, but this was about Upton and Heyward and it turned into a Matt Weiters thread. We've already had one of those and he's been discussed forever.

I was really hoping to get some input from some Braves fans and NL East guys on Heyward, but apparently that's not going to happen because people rather talk about Weiters.

So, yea, I'm disappointed because this thread went in another direction.

edit: Rather than complain, I should help.

I think Jason Heyward is going to be an amazing ballplayer. I hate the term "he's a baseball player" (because everyone is), but I know that someone is going to use it and understanding what they're trying to say, I'll agree.

One thing that immediately jumped at me is his James Loney approach to the plate. Now Loney has somewhat struggled with his average - he was supposed to be a .320 hitter and instead he's a .290-.300 hitter (still very good), but Loney oozed confidence the moment he stepped on a baseball field. He's the type of guy I can see begging the pitcher to throw the same pitch again so he can show him he's going to hit it. I see that with Heyward. The plate is his home and he's just taking swings.

I'm not sure how much power he will have at 20 - he only hit 17 homeruns in AAA for a guy that hits moon shots - but I expect that the power will continue to develop as he gets older.

I see a lot of Ryan Howard power in him with a bit more agility and what seems like a talent to hit over .300. Howard is probably stronger and unfortunately for him, the Phillies kept him in AAA for too long, so Heyward is going to probably be better than Ryan by the time he reaches his age.

As for Upton: explosive player with great skills. Definitely the type of guy you envision being one of the best all-around players. He can hit and run and has power. I don't know about his arm, but I do know that some fielding metrics suggest that he's getting better every year on the field.

I think Arizona stole him at his price. I'm not even sure what Upton and his agent were thinking, honestly. He should have asked for $10-15 MM more in total package.

When his contract is over at the tender age of 28, if he continues developing at the tremendous rate he currently is, he'll sign a $200 million dollar contract.

I'll add something to the topic as well.

I think Heyward has more polish as a hitter than Upton did at the same stage, for sure. I'd have a hard time saying anyone has more power than J-Up did. The reason for Heyward's OPS being a touch higher than Upton's doesn't account for the fact that Upton's age 18 season was an adjustment phase, with a .757 OPS (he went .961 the next year) Heyward's OPS at age 18 & 19 are .854 & .963 in the MILB - which is why they look comparable. In terms of ceiling, Upton has continued to explode at an unparralleled rate (his age 20 OPS & age 21 OPS for the MLB comps are out of this world). I hesitate to attach any player with a similar label power-wise without that kind of stark progression.

The .avg distance of J-Up's HR's even as a 19 and 20-year old were legendary. I don't know that Heyward has the same type of power. J-Up has the edge in speed ceiling as well. And FWIW, this isn't a knock against Heyward - I believe he is the #1 prospect, period.

I see .300/30-35/20 as Heyward's profile - the classic #3 hitter. I see J-Up as the Holy Grail - 40/40 or 40/30 with .300+. Heyward's profile would make him the top OF behind J-Up, and right there with Braun-like production. 8-10 seasons of that kind of production would make him a HOF player - so believe me when I say I think the world of Heyward. But there's a reason why Upton is called a generational talent - because it only comes once in a while. I think Heyward has HOF talent as his ceiling - so I trust the distinction is clear, and not an insult to Heyward in any way.
Some people must have forgotten.

http://mlb.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?mid=200807063080444

20 years old...

[Blzer]

Re: Baseballs Next Phenom: Justin Upton or Jason Heyward?

Funny that he looks and sounds like a legit guy, but why is it that whenever they are talking about him on MLB Tonight or Baseball Tonight they don't ever show any in-game clips from Spring Training? It's all close-ups of him taking BP or standing around, but no actual in-game shots.

I'm not suspicious of a bad spring or anything, I was just wondering why they're not showing anything he did (I know he hit a monster home run that was at least 450 feet or so, but that's all I actually heard).

[Nike Fattz]

Re: Baseballs Next Phenom: Justin Upton or Jason Heyward?

Funny that he looks and sounds like a legit guy, but why is it that whenever they are talking about him on MLB Tonight or Baseball Tonight they don't ever show any in-game clips from Spring Training? It's all close-ups of him taking BP or standing around, but no actual in-game shots.

I'm not suspicious of a bad spring or anything, I was just wondering why they're not showing anything he did (I know he hit a monster home run that was at least 450 feet or so, but that's all I actually heard).

Who?

[Sportsforever]

Re: Baseballs Next Phenom: Justin Upton or Jason Heyward?

Funny that he looks and sounds like a legit guy, but why is it that whenever they are talking about him on MLB Tonight or Baseball Tonight they don't ever show any in-game clips from Spring Training? It's all close-ups of him taking BP or standing around, but no actual in-game shots.

I'm not suspicious of a bad spring or anything, I was just wondering why they're not showing anything he did (I know he hit a monster home run that was at least 450 feet or so, but that's all I actually heard).

The dude hit almost .400 with an OBP of over .500. There were plenty of Braves games on between ESPN/MLBN...he was on the tube a lot.

[DieHardYankee26]

Re: Baseballs Next Phenom: Justin Upton or Jason Heyward?

The dude hit almost .400 with an OBP of over .500. There were plenty of Braves games on between ESPN/MLBN...he was on the tube a lot.

I think he's just making the point that whenever they talk about him, they never show any of his in-game hits or monstrous home runs. It's always just him running in the outfield or taking batting practice. He's not saying that he wasn't on the tv or that he isn't legit, just wondering why they say these great things about him, and don't show them.

[Blzer]

Re: Baseballs Next Phenom: Justin Upton or Jason Heyward?

I think he's just making the point that whenever they talk about him, they never show any of his in-game hits or monstrous home runs. It's always just him running in the outfield or taking batting practice. He's not saying that he wasn't on the tv or that he isn't legit, just wondering why they say these great things about him, and don't show them.

Exactly that. Thanks.

And yeah I was referring to Heyward, my bad.

[Bellsprout]

Re: Baseballs Next Phenom: Justin Upton or Jason Heyward?

Doesn't Upton win automatically until Heyward, you know, actually plays in the Majors?

[ajkj9]

Re: Baseballs Next Phenom: Justin Upton or Jason Heyward?

I say Heyward. Just the way that he's talked about by Chipper and Cox is what impresses me the most. Both would normally be downplaying anything from a rookie that hasn't even had a major league at bat, but even they seem to be in awe of him. That speaks volumes about what this guy is/could be.

[brett the jet favre]

Re: Baseballs Next Phenom: Justin Upton or Jason Heyward?

First off no one will ever ever again have a "griffey" like impact Griffey could have been the best player in the game EVER if he stayed healthy.

it is way too early in either of these guys career to see who will be better. heyward hasn't even registered an at-bat yet if i had to pick out of the blue i would probably go with heyward due to the fact that the braves scouts are always right with players potential that they draft

I agree but imo Griffey is the BEST EVER

[JBH3]

Re: Baseballs Next Phenom: Justin Upton or Jason Heyward?

I can't tell if you're laughing at me or with me. Damn words!

Wasn't laughing at you at all.

What I was trying to convey is that we can have a discussion about young guys w/o having to always include Matt Weiters. I seriously think JJ gets upset when his "switch hitting ______ " (won't refer to him as that) isn't mentioned in every topic concerning young phenoms. Go to the O's thread to talk about your boy....

[Sting]

Re: Baseballs Next Phenom: Justin Upton or Jason Heyward?

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[GOS79]

Re: Baseballs Next Phenom: Justin Upton or Jason Heyward?

J. Heyward....

[Antec]

Re: Baseballs Next Phenom: Justin Upton or Jason Heyward?

This thread dissapoints me. I was reading it on my phone going to fenway for the game thinking it was gonna get good/funny once I caught up to the current day considering heywards debut. Where's the posts to make me laugh.