The most obvious update to Jason Heyward’s wrist is, of course, that he played last night.
He wasn’t supposed to, as Heyward was not in the starting lineup, and entered only after Dexter Fowler was ejected (more on that in a bit). So, is that a good sign about his readiness to play regularly again?
Well, given that the Cubs had at least a couple other options for maneuvering their players at that point in the game to cover center field, the implication is that Joe Maddon felt comfortable with where Heyward was in his healing process. Even if the plan was to rest him one more day, it was a cold night and Heyward was coming off the bench … and Maddon still put him in there. I think that’s a great sign.
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Moreover, Heyward said before the game that his goal for pre-game was to go after it hard in batting practice and do what he’d normally do before a game (Cubs.com, ESPN). If he felt good, then he was going to play the next day (which is now today). Here he is taking hacks in BP, and they look like normal, solid swings:
#Cubs Heyward taking BP pic.twitter.com/dpnzZ90hny
— Carrie Muskat (@CarrieMuskat) May 5, 2016
I’d hazard a guess that everything went well, and that’s why Maddon was comfortable putting him into the game, and ultimately, getting two at bats.
Hopefully Heyward is in there to start today’s game, and this is the last we hear of the issue.
When it comes to a batter’s wrists, you just don’t want to see anything lingering, because it can be not-quite-serious-enough to take him out of the lineup, but it can completely sap a guy’s power. Heyward does enough well otherwise that you’d probably still want him in there, but obviously it would be better if he were clicking on all cylinders.
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