If All Else Fails, Maybe Maddon Could Use Heyward as Reliever

The Cubs don’t need to trade for Andrew Miller or Aroldis Chapman and it’s not because they made a move for Mike Montgomery. No, they’ve already got southpaw with high-90’s heat on the roster. Joe Maddon’s already dropped Jason Heyward in the lineup once, now he might have to consider batting the guy 9th and shifting him to a bullpen role.

That’s obviously never going to happen, mainly because they don’t allow pitchers to get a running start or to utilize a crow hop from the mound, but it’s fun to imagine. Especially after what we saw from Heyward on Wednesday afternoon.

With the Cubs leading 3-0 in the 4th, the Mets had men on first and third with two outs when Kelly Johnson singled to center. As he’s wont to do, Heyward charged the ball and positioned himself perfectly to field the ball and set himself up to throw home. James Loney really had no chance as Heyward unleashed a one-hop throw home that Statcast measured at 98.9 mph.

The full video from MLB.com can’t be embedded, but here’s a GIF to carry you through.

https://twitter.com/statcast/status/755854091998285829?refsrc=email&s=11

Sure, you’d like to see him putting up some better offensive numbers. As long as he keeps making plays like this, though, Heyward’s providing all kinds of value in other ways.