Chicago Cubs: the land of misfit toys
By Bill Felber
Chicago Cubs: The Land of Misfit Toys
Jason Heyward
The loss of Castellanos means Heyward moves back to right field on a more or less permanent basis. More on that “permanent” status in a moment. Heyward is in the fourth season of a seven-year deal, so he’s playing somewhere.
When Castellanos arrived last August, Heyward largely shifted to center field, eventually putting in 74 starts there atop his 63 starts in right. He can play either, but unless one projects Souza as a right-field option the Chicago Cubs have nobody else.
The Cub can also gamble that 2019 was a freakishly bad season for Heyward facing left-handers. In his three previous seasons on the North Side, he compiled a .250 average against left-handers, peaking at .290 in 2018.
The Cubs’ willingness to look at Souza as a platoon option flows from Heyward’s 2019 challenges coping with left-handed pitching. He batted .264 against right-handed pitchers, but just .205 against left-handers. His power numbers also suffered.
From either side, the inescapable reality is that the Cubs need Heyward to deliver value commensurate with the $21 million he’s making. Since coming to Chicago, his career batting average has fallen by 16 points; he’s also lost 21 points off his on-base average and 47 points off his slugging average.
Without Castellanos, the Cubs need Heyward to be the offensive threat he was before coming to Chicago.