Dodgers Team News

Jason Heyward Finally Rewarded at the Plate in Dodgers Win

The Dodgers got back in the win column on Friday night with veteran outfielder Jason Heyward playing the hero of the game on offense and defense. At the plate, J Hey went 2-2 with 2 RBI and he reached base on a catcher’s interference to boot. His single in the first inning was 92.9 MPH off the bat, continuing his trend of hitting the ball hard all season. This one just so happened to get by the second baseman. He came up again in the third and tapped a 57.4 MPH groundball squibber down the line for a run scoring double.

Heyward came into the game hitting .192 but his hard hit percentage of 60% has been at or near the top of baseball all season. His average exit velocity of 93 MPH is the highest it’s been in his career. In other words, he’s hitting the heck out of the baseball and not getting much to show for it.



On Friday he finally caught a break.

“Jason has swung the bat as well as anybody, if not better, as far as quality of contact,” Dave Roberts said after the game. “And tonight, I think he got rewarded, finally, with some seeing-eye ground balls and drove in some runs.”

Via MLB.com

The last two games have been kind to Heyward. He’s finally stringing together some hits with back to back 2 hit games raising his season average from .159 to .224. As 6-time Gold Glove award winner Mookie Betts has moved in to the infield, 5-time Gold Glove winner Jason Heyward has plugged in out in the outfield and is taking advantage of the added playing time.

“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. Don’t take it for granted by any means — getting hits, don’t take it for granted how hard the game is.”

By the way, that glove still plays up in right field.

When Will Jason Heyward Play Next?

With lefty pitcher Jordan Montgomery on the mound for the Cardinals, Heyward will likely be on the bench to start the game on Saturday before getting back into the starting lineup on Sunday vs St. Louis hurler Jake Woodford.

Heyward is a .230 hitter lifetime vs left-handed pitching and is 0-3 against southpaws this season.

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Clint Pasillas

Clint Pasillas has been writing, blogging, and podcasting about the Los Angeles Dodgers since 2008. Under Clint's leadership as the Lead Editor, Dodgers Nation has grown into one of the most read baseball sites in the world with millions of unique visitors per month. Find him online on Twitter/X or his YouTube channel!

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