I was (and still am) a Heisey fan. I think he's a valuable asset for the Reds, and I think he can help the team. But I've also backed off my earlier take that I think he could perform well as a starter. What I'm seeing is a guy who's passable as a starter, but not really ideal. Fortunately he plays good defense in the corners and can handle center; the combination of it all tells me his best contribution to the team is being a fourth outfielder.
There's one stat that scares me a bit, which is why I'm not so sure Heisey as a starter is a good thing (unless an emergency, of course, which is what he's doing now):
Minor league PA/BB: 11.81 (projects to 51 walks per 600 PAs)
Major league PA/BB: 17.89 (projects to 34 walks per 600 PAs)
His walk numbers were decent in the minors, but it hasn't translated to the majors. Given that he's now approaching 1,000 PAs, I'm thinking that the plate discipline we see out of Heisey at the big league level is likely what we're going to get moving forward. Odds are his OBP won't draw many fans, and a low OBP will place a cap on SLG and how much power he has (read: that .797 OPS and .487 SLG we saw in 2011 is likely to be his peak unless he starts walking more). It's sort of the same problem Wily Mo Pena had; these types of hitters get themselves out by chasing so many bad pitches that it limits not only how often they reach base but how often they'll knock extra baggers.
That being said, the one thing Heisey offers every day in the lineup is solid defense in left field. It's a small consolation, but it certainly beats placing a statue out there.
Heisey's not going to OPS .500 the next two months. But our most realistic hope is that he can give us a .700+ OPS and continue to play solid defense.
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Originally Posted by mu4103
