Chicago Cubs Not Counting on Jason Heyward to Rebound

With Jon Jay in the fold, the Chicago Cubs have five capable starting outfielders. With Ben Zobrist and Kyle Schwarber firmly placed in the lineup, what does this mean for Jason Heyward?

The Chicago Cubs seem to have their infield set: Anthony Rizzo, Javier Baez, Addison Russell, Kris Bryant. The catching will be mostly done by Willson Contreras, with Miguel Montero most likely being the backup.

Even with Dexter Fowler gone, the outfield is where things get messy. World Series MVP Ben Zobrist figures to get a lot of time in the corners, and power-hitter Kyle Schwarber will be in the lineup as much as possible. This leaves Heyward, Jay, and Albert Almora Jr. to fight for one spot, not to mention pinch-hitter Matt Szczur. With these six outfielders, Chris Coghlan will most likely be let go in free agency, and no other outfielders are expected to be added to the mix. Let’s take a look at how the six outfielders did this past season:

It must be kept in mind that the regular season is very long, and not like the playoffs with off days in between every couple of games. Zobrist’s versatility will be key to move him around the infield when Baez or Russell need an off day. But, Zobrist is still not very capable of playing center and neither is Schwarber. Bryant can also play the corner outfield spots, but most likely will not need to with an abundance of outfielders.

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Last season, the team got off easy in a strange way when Schwarber missed almost the entire year. With his return, his bat will demand that he is kept in the lineup, and with no DH, that means a corner outfield spot is taken.

With Almora as a young top prospect, the team would figure to want to give him as much time as possible. At the same time, Heyward is locked up for seven more years. And Jay was not paid $8 million to pinch hit every other day. It’s hard to fault the Cubs for adding depth, but one thing is clear through their moves: they are not relying on Heyward to bounce back.

As shown in the playoffs, Joe Maddon did not seem scared to bench his $184 million outfielder when he felt it was necessary. With plentiful options in the outfield, assuming everyone stays healthy, it seems the two-time manager of the year will not be afraid to bench Heyward once again. On one side, you have to respect the fact that Maddon does not care that Heyward’s making so much money when it comes to his lineup decisions. On the other side, with so many more years on his contract, Heyward should be given opportunities to make good on the investment.

It has been reported that Heyward is working hard this offseason to improve his hitting. If he can get somewhere closer to his 2015 hitting output, his glove makes him an easy choice for the starting lineup. But, if he continues to hit worse than half the pitchers on the staff, putting him in the everyday lineup is hard to justify.

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The Chicago Cubs are one of a handful of teams that fully expect to compete for the World Series in 2017. With those expectations, the team cannot afford to give at-bats to a player that does not give the team the best chance to win. Not to say that Heyward will not be given at-bats, but if he is not able to produce, he will be left on the bench for important games.