LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – Jason Heyward began Wednesday batting .190 with a .250 on-base percentage for the spring, but by the end of the day there was plenty of reason for the Braves and their right fielder to feel good about the direction he seemed headed.
He’s had games recently that didn’t look as good in the boxscore as on the field, but Wednesday he got results.
Heyward had two hits including a tying two-run homer in the ninth inning, and prevented three runs with a home run-saving catch in the third inning and a diving catch in shallow center in the last out of the Braves’ 5-5, 10-inning tie with the New York Yankees.
"He did everything," Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "He showed us what he can do, he really did. He gave us a little appetizer hopefully for the season ... because he's a big part of our offense."
Someone asked if Heyward wished Wednesday’s game had come in the regular season, which begins next week.
“At this point for me it kind of feels like the regular season,” he said. “We’re down to the last six [spring training] games now. You want to get ready to go and you want to have those kind of at-bats and have those kind of defensive plays."
After following up his terrific rookie season in 2010 with a disappointing, injury-marred season, the Heyward project began in December when he went to work breaking down his swing with his personal hitting coach.
It moved to the next stage in January when he went to work in the Turner Field batting cages with the new Braves hitting coaches, Greg Walker and assistant Scott Fletcher, along with regular appearances from Chipper Jones.
Swing adjustments were made, balance was regained, mental reminders were driven home – stay inside the ball, wait on the pitch, use the whole field – and Heyward set out to apply them against live pitching when spring training began.
“He’s been working so hard, and if you follow him every day and not [focus on] the boxscores you see it,” Gonzalez said. “You see the aggressiveness that he’s showing at the plate."
In the past two weeks the Braves and Heyward have been pleased by his performance, including Tuesday against the Mets when had five good plate appearances despite only one hit. He worked counts, hit balls hard and was a tough out.
“I would say it’s [felt] natural for about two weeks straight consistently,” he said. “Because there were times [before] where I would go up there and react, and then other times during the game where I was thinking again. Now it’s, we’re going to go up there and relax."
The play of the day Wednesday wasn't his homer or teammate Freddie Freeman's fifth homer in three games. It was Heyward racing back and scaling an eight-foot wall, the 6-foot-5 right fielder reaching over to bring back Raul Ibanez's would-be two-run homer to prevent a tough third inning from spiraling on Braves starter Brandon Beachy.
“My first instinct was, there’s a home run,” Beachy said. “I just look at Jason to see if he’s even going to turn around, and then instantly I just knew he was going to catch the ball. You could just tell. He had it. Man, he made that catch look easy. He made it look like a four-foot picket fence.”
Heyward moved over to center in the ninth inning. With runners at second and third and two out in the 10th, Gustava Molina hit a sinking liner to center. It looked like trouble for the Braves, with the runners going on two outs. But Heyward bounded in and dove forward to make a diving catch to end the game.
Beachy finishes strong
Beachy allowed a run on three consecutive two-out singles in the first inning -- albeit none hit particularly hard -- and gave up two runs and three hits in the third inning. But after Heyward's homer-robbing catch and a Eric Chavez's two-out RBI single in the third, Beachy retired the last 10 batters he faced.
“Those last three innings I think I really figured something out that I’ve been missing all spring and it really showed," he said. "And I felt great. [It was] just a little edge. Just a little competitiveness and aggressiveness with my pitches.”
He threw 100 pitches (29 in the first inning) and gave up six hits and three runs (two earned) in six innings, with no walks and two strikeouts. He said things changed after a third-inning mound visit by pitching coach Roger McDowell.
“In the back of my mind I’ve been trying to work on stuff," he said. "I wouldn’t have told you this yesterday because I don’t think I would have realized it, but I was kind of out there going through it like a bullpen almost. I kind of got that switch flipped and was going out there and competing after Roger came out there."
Venters return Thursday
Eleven days since his last game, Jonny Venters makes his eagerly awaited return Thursday when he's scheduled to throw an inning against the Nationals. The reliever has been held out because of soreness in his upper left (pitching) arm, but pronounced himself fit after a 25-pitch bullpen session Tuesday.
“I wasn’t throwing 100 percent, but I was getting on it,” he said. “Felt really good."
Venters, who had a 1.89 ERA in a major league-leading 164 appearances over the past two seasons, has pitched just five innings this spring. He wants to pitch in two or three more, but said he’d be ready even if the season began now.
The Braves will take all of their regulars except center fielder Michael Bourn for Thursday's game against. Lefty Mike Minor starts against Washington right-hander Edwin Jackson.
