SAN FRANCISCO — Despite Jason Heyward's slow start to the season and his struggles against left-handers, Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez plans to keep the right fielder in the leadoff position on a regular basis.
The question arose Wednesday when Heyward had a day off and second baseman Tyler Pastornicky hit leadoff against a lefty (Madison Bumgarner) in the series finale against the Giants. Gonzalez was asked if Pastornicky might be an option against lefties going forward.
“No, I’m seeing Jason starting to come a little bit to life, so I don’t think so,” Gonzalez said.
He said the day off for Heyward was planned and had been discussed with the right fielder four or five days ago, after the Giants announced their pitching plans with Bumgarner starting the series finale.
Bumgarner was the first left-handed starter the Braves faced in eight games, and Gonzalez said that fact, coupled with the day game after a night game led to the decision to give Heyward his second day out of the lineup in 39 games this season. Heyward was 5-for-34 (.147) with 12 strikeouts and a .189 on-base percentage against lefties.
While Heyward was a modest 3-for-17 with a homer in his past five games before Wednesday, he did have five walks and a .364 on-base percentage in that span. For the season, he was hitting .204 with three homers and a .304 OBP in 37 games, all from the leadoff position.
After going 3-for-8 with a homer and two RBIs in the first two games of the season, Heyward had a .196 average with a .296 OBP and .290 slugging percentage in his past 35 games.
Braves leadoff hitters were last in the majors in batting average (.205) before Wednesday, while their .301 OBP was tied for seventh-lowest. Until Pastornicky hit leadoff Wednesday, the only Brave besides Heyward with any plate appearances from the No. 1 spot in the batting order was Andrelton Simmons (1-for-5).
Etc. After batting the pitcher eighth in eight consecutive games, the Braves had Simmons bat eighth Wednesday and pitcher Julio Teheran back in the conventional ninth spot in the order. Manager Fredi Gonzalez said it was because the Braves didn't have another leadoff-type hitter in the lineup with Heyward getting a day off.
