I do not doubt Heyward was not 100% for most of the season, and I have hopes that a 100% Heyward is a very good (maybe great) player. I just look at his professional career, including his back problems in the minors, and wonder whether he can have a productive career. Bill James said it first; staying healthy and able to play is a skill too; some can and do, and some cannot.

Heyward's OPS vs RHP also fell from 895 to 754, nearly the same size drop as his performance against LHP. Which isn't to say it wasn't the shoulder issued but that Gammons gives the impression that the problem was mainly against LHP when it wasn't.

On the "bright" side, it was almost all due to a massive drop in BABIP. Most of his component stats actually maintained -- HR%, HR/FB, K%, XB/H% -- other than his LD% and his pop-up % which should explain most of the BABIP drop. He still hit too many GB for my tastes but at the same rate as the year before so maybe that's the kind of hitter he'll always be. And, yes, his BB rate dropped but from a near-historic 14.6% to a very good 11.2% so it wouldn't have been "fair" to expect him to maintain that walk rate.

Balls he would drive to the gaps rolled weakly to 2B. Over, and over again. I'm comfortable with the idea that the shoulder injury broke his mechanics and he never got back together. I'm still in wait-and-see mode for 2012.

I'm with bfan in my evaluation of Heyward. If, if, if healthy he is and will be a hcke of a player. So far though he has had problems with the staying healthy thing.