Cardinals notebook: Heyward is feeling no pressure – STLtoday.com
MILWAUKEE • With July’s trade deadline past, his production on a steady rise, his 26th birthday Sunday, and his free agency starting to appear on the horizon, outfielder Jason Heyward has gotten exactly what he’s wanted from the Cardinals through their first nine months together.
His space.
There have not been substantive talks about an extension, he said, and there’s been no pressure from either side to hasten a deal even if it means seeing him reach the open market in November.
“At this point, I think both sides are OK with that, OK with where things are right now,” Heyward said. “Both sides want to make sure everybody is happy. That’s really what they’ve been asking me about the whole time. ‘Hey, you like it here? Hey, you comfortable?’ They want to make sure I feel at home, make sure I can be myself, and that’s been their focus. They’ve allowed me the time to fit in. That has meant a lot.”
Heyward will be one of the youngest free agents in recent memory, possibly reaching the market this winter before he’s reached his prime as a player. This is his sixth season in the majors and these past few weeks have been the first time he’s started alongside outfielders who are younger than him in Randal Grichuk (23) and Stephen Piscotty (24). Reliever Matt Belisle kidded Heyward on Sunday by calling him the “oldest youngest player in the game.”
The Cardinals acquired him this past November in a four-player deal that sent Shelby Miller to Atlanta. The team realized the risk of acquiring a soon-to-be free agent. After inevitably presenting him at least a qualifying offer, the Cardinals will receive a draft pick as compensation should he sign elsewhere, but ownership and the front office have expressed an interest pursuing an extension with Heyward. They wanted him to get to know the club first, just as they did with Matt Holliday back in 2009.
Heyward has taken to the organization, its atmosphere, and he called it “the kind of place you talk about being as a player.”
“The grass isn’t greener everywhere,” he said.
In addition to playing Gold Glove-worthy in right field, Heyward has had his on-base percentage rise each month this season, and his slugging percentage since June 1 has been .450. He said had he remained in Atlanta, questions about an extension would have swirled around him as a Georgia native and first-round pick. He said the Cardinals have kept that talk at a distance, not making it a focus of the media, nor bringing it to him.
“I tell these guys (teammates) that it’s awesome not to really have to worry about it,” Heyward said. “They’re not focusing on one person. The goal ahead is not that. That’s refreshing. I feel like they have a very structured organization, and from what I can tell they handle things when they should be handled, and now baseball is what’s supposed to be handled.”
BREAKS FOR MOLINA
Catcher Yadier Molina received two days off from starts on the Cardinals’ six-day road trip, and backup Tony Cruz started Sunday for the third time in seven games. The increased rest has been part of the plan, manager Mike Matheny said.“Day games after night games — you’re going to see us do that more this month,” Matheny explained. “There are push times and there are times when we keep in contact with him about how he feels. We’re going to give him the time.”Molina has been on a pace to catch a career-high total for innings. He and Matheny have attributed his durability to the weight he lost before spring training and the strength he’s been able to regain through the course of the season. The Cardinals have annually talked about reducing Molina’s workload during the regular season, but still he started 94 of the team’s first 103 games. The heat of August and the day games following a night game give the Cardinals further reason to find time off for him, and off days like Monday’s offer an inviting chance to steal consecutive days off.
YES, THAT SHANE PETERSON
The only player who is still starting in the majors these days and was involved in one of the biggest trades for the Cardinals in the past decade had the smallest name in the deal.In July 2009, the Cardinals sent two first-round picks and a recently promoted Class AA outfielder to Oakland for left fielder Holliday. With Holliday on the disabled list, first-rounder Brett Wallace coming off San Diego’s bench, and Clayton Mortensen last in the majors in 2013, that leaves Shane Peterson, the Class AA outfielder who has become an everyday player for the Brewers. Peterson, 27, started in center and scored a run Sunday in the Brewers’ 5-4 victory. He had three hits Friday, and this season he’s batting .308 with a .377 on-base percentage.The Cardinals’ drafted Peterson in the second round of the 2008 draft, 20 spots after Lance Lynn. He reached Class AA Springfield – for a few weeks – and was trying to sleep in when texts work him up. He switched on ESPN to see he had been traded. Peterson reached the majors with Oakland in 2013, but bounced around this winter. The Cubs claimed him off waivers only to four days later lose him off waivers to Milwaukee. As Brewers have shed players, Peterson has seen his playing time increase.
“Obviously this is really the only extended opportunity I’ve had in the big leagues,” he said. “That’s what I’ve been looking for the last three, four years. I was ready for it. The (Cardinals) moved me pretty quickly through the system but I really only had that short time there. I feel like I’ve matured a lot, not just physically but mentally since then. I was 21 when I was traded, and 27 now, I would hope to make some improvements.”
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service – if this is your content and you’re reading it on someone else’s site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers.
