Jason Heyward was one of the most hyped-up players in baseball last season and he did not disappoint. The 21-year-old outfielder blasted a three-run home run to deep right field off Carlos Zambrano in his first career at-bat, and that paved the way for an All-Star selection. Unfortunately for Heyward his season was derailed by a thumb injury and he ended up with 18 home runs and 72 RBIs with an .849 OPS.
The legend of Jason Heyward began for most people in Spring Training last year when the slugger famously dented and shattered windows of Braves employees’ cars with his prodigious bombs in batting practice. A year later, the Braves have learned their lesson. The team has constructed tents to shield the cars in the parking lot beyond the right field wall of their facility, as Braves reporter David O’Brien pointed out:
For comparison, here’s a picture of how it looked last year:
I guess you could term this the organization’s version of an intentional walk. Hey, it’s a better solution to the problem than trading the man!
