Braves' Player Recap: Jason Heyward

Today's second Braves' recap is on outfielder Jason Heyward.
Heyward broke into the major leagues in 2010 after being the Braves top prospect the year before. He started off with a bang too, a three-run home run in his first major league at-bat off of then Chicago Cubs starter Carlos Zambrano. Heyward even made the All-Star team his first season. His second season was marred by injury and poor play, but he came back with a bang this year.
Heyward started the season off slow. After two months he was only batting .233. He just didn't seem to have an eye for the ball. The same problem happened the year before and manager Fredi Gonzalez started platooning him with Jose Constanza. This year, Gonzalez stuck with Heyward and it proved to be the right move.
Heyward turned things around. He had two games in June where he hit two home runs in each game. One was against the Miami Marlins on June 7th and the other against the New York Yankees on June 20th. The Braves won both of those games. He finished the year batting .269 with 27 home runs and 82 RBI's. He also had 21 stolen bases, which made him the first Brave to have 20+ home runs and 20+ steals in a season since 2000 when Andruw Jones accomplished the feat. He also provided stellar defense in the outfield, including robbing Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina of a home run in the wild card game.
Heyward will definitely be starting in right field next year for the Braves. He had his best season yet, but that will bring along added pressure. Heyward will be counted on heavily to help replace Chipper Jones, now that he is retired. Jones said recently that Heyward and Freddie Freeman will be two of the Braves main supporters now that he is gone. Hopefully Heyward will prove him right and have an even bigger season in 2013.