LOS ANGELES — The early moving into 2023 has been irritating for Jason Heyward, whose numbers on the plate have left one thing to be desired. His peripherals, in addition to the attention take a look at, supplied cause for optimism, however general the outcomes had but to match the method.
Heyward actually received outcomes on either side of the ball on Friday night time, notching two hits, driving in a pair of runs and offering some sturdy protection within the Dodgers’ 7-3 win over the Cardinals at Dodger Stadium. It was his second consecutive multi-hit sport and simply his third of the season.
“Jason has swung the bat as well as anybody, if not better, as far as quality of contact,” stated supervisor Dave Roberts. “And tonight, I think he got rewarded, finally, with some seeing-eye ground balls and drove in some runs.”
Indeed, Heyward got here into Friday ranked within the 99th percentile in MLB in hard-hit price, 96th in common exit velocity and 92nd in most exit velocity. But he additionally entered the night time slashing .191/.291/.404, with a batting common on balls in play of simply .176, nicely beneath each league and his profession averages. Conventional knowledge means that low BABIP is a matter of poor luck and regression to the imply could be anticipated with further at-bats.
And Heyward discovered a little bit of that luck towards Cardinals starter Jack Flaherty. After a leadoff homer from Mookie Betts received the Dodgers on the board shortly within the first, Heyward tacked on one other run with a grounder that received beneath the glove of Brendan Donovan at second base, bringing residence Will Smith.
Heyward’s subsequent hit wasn’t fairly as well-struck — it left the bat with an exit velocity of 57.4 mph — however the placement was ultimate. With the rely 1-2 and Max Muncy on second, Heyward reached out and linked with a knuckle curve on the decrease nook of the zone, cueing the ball barely honest down the third-base line, eluding the elite glove of Nolan Arenado for a double.
“Obviously, I love hitting the ball hard, love getting results, but missing somebody, those are breaks that you need to go your way throughout the season,” stated Heyward. “Don’t take it for granted by any means — getting hits, don’t take it for granted how hard the game is.”
Stepping to the plate with runners on first and second, Heyward drove a 3-1 cutter to the warning monitor that proper fielder Lars Nootbaar made a pleasant catch on, however home-plate umpire Nate Tomlinson known as catcher interference on Willson Contreras. Heyward was awarded first, setting the stage for a run to return in on James Outman’s hit-by-pitch.
Even with the collision with the glove, Heyward managed to drive the ball at an exit velocity of 99.9 mph. He stated that whereas he’d by no means hit the ball that onerous on a catcher interference earlier than, he had hit one which far, recalling a sport towards the Mets on April 7, 2012, with R.A. Dickey on the mound and Josh Thole behind the plate. On that play, Heyward was in a position to attain third base, and in that case, he naturally took the triple.
“Because that happened to me there in New York in 2012, I was prepared mentally,” stated Heyward. “So I was waiting to see if he caught it — of course, go figure, I hit it hard, he caught it — but luckily, it was a [beneficial] situation for us.”
In addition to contributing with the bat, Heyward made just a few spectacular performs in proper subject to indicate that the defensive expertise that earned him 5 Gold Glove Awards continues to be there. The most notable was a sliding snag close to the road on a slicing liner to take successful away from Arenado within the third.
“Ah, man. Having J-Hey out there and [Outman] out in the outfield making the spectacular plays like that — I mean, you can’t complain about it,” stated Dustin May, who allowed two runs in 5 innings whereas throwing a career-high 104 pitches. “I mean, they definitely saved my butt a couple of times tonight.”
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