JUPITER, Fla. -- Jason Heyward was out of the Braves lineup again Monday with a sore lower back that's bothered him since Saturday. It's not serious, and, if it were the regular season, Heyward said he would have played.
His string of nagging injuries has some Braves fans concerned that the talented right fielder might continue to have difficulty staying on the field or performing at full capacity. New Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez is not worried.
“From what the trainers have told me and Bobby [Cox] has told me, those Ferraris, like you say, are a little temperamental,” Gonzalez said, smiling. “Right now, it’s March 15. You rest. If he plays, maybe it becomes more a problem.”
Heyward had hoped to play Monday against St. Louis, but his back tightened again during batting practice after a 2-1/2-hour morning bus ride from Lake Buena Vista, Fla. All it took was a swing.
“All was well until that swing,” he said after coming out of the cage. “This is not the time to push it.”
Heyward said there’s a “great chance” he’ll play on Tuesday when the Braves face the Cardinals again in Jupiter. If he does, and if Gonzalez uses his projected regular lineup, Heyward will bat sixth.
Which leads to the second question a lot of observers have for Gonzalez: Why not bat Heyward higher, perhaps in the second spot, where he primarily hit in 2010? Heyward hit .277 with 18 home runs and a .393 on-base percentage as a 20-year-old rookie.
Since he was hired, Gonzalez has said he planned to bat Martin Prado leadoff and Nate McLouth (.190 average, .298 OBP in 2010) second, provided McLouth was hitting well this spring.
So far, McLouth has hit well, going 9-for-23 (.391) with two doubles, a homer, eight walks and a strikeout.
Gonzalez plans to bat Chipper Jones in his customary third position in the lineup, followed by Brian McCann and Dan Uggla at 4-5, alternating based on the opposing pitcher. When McCann is out of the lineup, Heyward will bat fifth, the manager said.
Gonzalez was asked if he's batting Heyward sixth because he sees him as more as a run-producer/RBI man than a top-of-the-order hitter.
“That’s the reason; I think he is a run-producer,” Gonzalez said. “And I think it will give McLouth an opportunity to see some pitches, so he can get going. It’s a good spot for him. I think it works better. Because if you don’t put McLouth second, where do you put him? Sixth? Seventh? And I think, though we don’t have a prototypical leadoff guy, the way the club responded last year to Prado’s move to first, why not? He does OK up there.
“I think it works for all parties."
It also enables Gonzalez to use his preferred right-lefty balance, with right-handed hitting Prado followed by lefty McLouth, switch-hitting Jones, McCann (lefty) and Uggla (righty). Heywards hits left-handed.
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