Patrick Gorski-USA TODAY Sports
The 2016 Chicago Cubs are a great team, but not a perfect one. Laying aside the question of whether any team deserves to be called perfect, one of the players preventing Joe Maddon's ensemble from even making a run at the word is right fielder Jason Heyward.The 26-year-old had hit .268/.353/.431 career entering this season, rates that are unexceptionable by the standards of the corner pastures but, when combined with Heyward's exceptionally strong glovework and youth, made him one of the most coveted free agents on the market last winter. The building Cubs signed him to an eight-year, $184 million contract, and while there was some second-guessing about how much money was going to a guy whose value was in all-around play and not just pure stickwork, no one could deny that Heyward was, in pure baseball terms, a great signing.That was then. Heyward has struggled throughout his debut season in ursine uniform, hitting .228/.300/.318 through Thursday. These are numbers that would depress a one-handed shortstop with a bad case of anemia. Heyward has hit just 22 doubles and six home runs, and his second half has been worse than his first. There have been 136 games this season when a single player had five or more RBI; three players have had an eight-RBI game. In July, Heyward had a five-RBI month.Heyward ranks 11th from the bottom in the majors in terms of the percent of the fly balls he hits that turn into home runs at 3.5 percent. Most of the players below him on the list are of a type: Adeiny Hechavarria; Alcides Escober; Elvis Andrus; Jose Iglesias. Those guys average about 6'0"/190 pounds and play shortstop. Heyward is 6'5"/240 and looks like Dave Winfield's younger, left-handed cousin.About the only good thing one can say about his season is the defensive value remains. Perhaps the worst is that with just 16 games left, it's too late for him to figure out what ails him and salvage his record; this is how his 2016 season will look for all time.October will bring what it brings. Until then, barring 16 games of .750 hitting by Heyward, the only certainty is he has compiled one of the bottom five offensive seasons by an everyday outfielder in the long, long history of the Cubs. A brief annotated list, as ranked by offensive wins above replacement:10. Alfonso Soriano, LF, 2009: .241/.303/.423 (117 games)
This season doesn't look terrible to the naked eye, but remember that in 2009 the average major leaguer hit .262/.333/.418, and left field is always a production position. That year, they hit .270/.341/.440, so Soriano was way off the mark. He had a few bounce-back seasons left in him.9. Jimmy Slagle, CF, 1908: .222/.306/.239 (104 games)
Sure, this was the Deadball Era, but the 5-foot-7 "Shorty" Slagle was a light hitter even when you take that into account, with just two home runs in a 1,300-game career. He was one of 22 players to have 5,000 or more plate appearances during the span of his career. Rank them by slugging percentage and you get Honus Wagner first at .509 and Slagle last at .317.8. Keith Moreland, RF, 1896: .271/.326/.384 (156 games)
Moreland was a pretty good hitter for a catcher, but he wasn't a good enough glove to play regularly, and he hit decently for a third baseman too, but didn't belong there either. If you put him in the outfield pigeons would roost on him. The Cubs tried to make the best of it, moving him around and hoping the ball wouldn't find him, and in gratitude some years he would bust out with a .300 average and 15 or 16 home runs. This was not one of those years.7. Dick Harley, RF, 1903: .231/.328/.259 (104 games)
He just couldn't hit. Jack London published Call of the Wild that year, and each game thousands of fans picked up their copies and started reading whenever Harley came up to bat. Well, not really, but it's fun to think about.6. Doug Dascenzo, CF: 1992, .255/.304/.311 (139 games)
Another undersized outfielder, Dascenzo started only 81 of his games in the outfield and probably shouldn't have played even that much, but young Sammy Sosa broke a couple of bones that year.5. Jason Heyward4. Eddie Miskis, CF, 1955: .235/.282/.328 (131 games)
This is the way the Cubs were run in the 1950s: In 1951, they traded their best player, outfielder Andy Pafko, to the Dodgers for a pile of bench guys, utility infielder Miskis among them. Then, when Pafko's replacements didn't work out, they made Miskis the starting center fielder. He was a career .236/.288/.322 hitter; this is how the Cubs planned to counter Duke Snider, Willie Mays, and Richie Ashburn.3. Corey Patterson, CF, 2005: .215/.254/.348 (126 games)
The Cubs had made him the third-overall pick in the 1998 draft, so he was always fated to get more chances than his results deserved; the rest was the price a team pays for employing Dusty Baker.2. Cliff Heathcote, RF, 1923: .249/.298/.308 (117 games)
Heathcote was a better player than this most of the time, a fast runner and good fielder, although he once lost a ball in the sun and had it bounce off his head. He was basically fourth outfielder/platoon material and was at his best when used that way. The average NL player hit .286/.343/.395 in 1923. He died at only 40 due to a pulmonary embolism.1. Bob Talbot, CF, 1954: .241/.274/.305 (114 games)
A one-season non-wonder and one of the aforementioned failed replacements for Pafko, Talbot had been in the Cubs' system for eight years and never showed the slightest sign he would hit in the majors. He didn't. It was Ernie Banks' rookie year, so possibly no one noticed.
Advertisement
Advertisement
This season doesn't look terrible to the naked eye, but remember that in 2009 the average major leaguer hit .262/.333/.418, and left field is always a production position. That year, they hit .270/.341/.440, so Soriano was way off the mark. He had a few bounce-back seasons left in him.9. Jimmy Slagle, CF, 1908: .222/.306/.239 (104 games)
Sure, this was the Deadball Era, but the 5-foot-7 "Shorty" Slagle was a light hitter even when you take that into account, with just two home runs in a 1,300-game career. He was one of 22 players to have 5,000 or more plate appearances during the span of his career. Rank them by slugging percentage and you get Honus Wagner first at .509 and Slagle last at .317.8. Keith Moreland, RF, 1896: .271/.326/.384 (156 games)
Moreland was a pretty good hitter for a catcher, but he wasn't a good enough glove to play regularly, and he hit decently for a third baseman too, but didn't belong there either. If you put him in the outfield pigeons would roost on him. The Cubs tried to make the best of it, moving him around and hoping the ball wouldn't find him, and in gratitude some years he would bust out with a .300 average and 15 or 16 home runs. This was not one of those years.7. Dick Harley, RF, 1903: .231/.328/.259 (104 games)
He just couldn't hit. Jack London published Call of the Wild that year, and each game thousands of fans picked up their copies and started reading whenever Harley came up to bat. Well, not really, but it's fun to think about.
Advertisement
Another undersized outfielder, Dascenzo started only 81 of his games in the outfield and probably shouldn't have played even that much, but young Sammy Sosa broke a couple of bones that year.5. Jason Heyward4. Eddie Miskis, CF, 1955: .235/.282/.328 (131 games)
This is the way the Cubs were run in the 1950s: In 1951, they traded their best player, outfielder Andy Pafko, to the Dodgers for a pile of bench guys, utility infielder Miskis among them. Then, when Pafko's replacements didn't work out, they made Miskis the starting center fielder. He was a career .236/.288/.322 hitter; this is how the Cubs planned to counter Duke Snider, Willie Mays, and Richie Ashburn.3. Corey Patterson, CF, 2005: .215/.254/.348 (126 games)
The Cubs had made him the third-overall pick in the 1998 draft, so he was always fated to get more chances than his results deserved; the rest was the price a team pays for employing Dusty Baker.2. Cliff Heathcote, RF, 1923: .249/.298/.308 (117 games)
Heathcote was a better player than this most of the time, a fast runner and good fielder, although he once lost a ball in the sun and had it bounce off his head. He was basically fourth outfielder/platoon material and was at his best when used that way. The average NL player hit .286/.343/.395 in 1923. He died at only 40 due to a pulmonary embolism.1. Bob Talbot, CF, 1954: .241/.274/.305 (114 games)
A one-season non-wonder and one of the aforementioned failed replacements for Pafko, Talbot had been in the Cubs' system for eight years and never showed the slightest sign he would hit in the majors. He didn't. It was Ernie Banks' rookie year, so possibly no one noticed.