Jason Alias Heyward (born August 9, 1989), nicknamed "J-Hey", is an American former professional baseball right fielder. He played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Atlanta Braves, St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers, Houston Astros, and San Diego Padres.
Originally the Braves' first-round selection in the 2007 MLB draft from Henry County High School in Georgia, Heyward began his minor league career at age 17. He appeared in three minor league all-star games and won two minor league player of the year awards. In 2010, multiple media outlets named Heyward the top prospect in all of baseball.
Heyward debuted in MLB as Atlanta's starting right fielder on Opening Day 2010. He was named to the National League (NL) All-Star team that season and finished second in the NL Rookie of the Year Award voting. While injuries limited his playing time in 2011 and 2013, Heyward enjoyed a breakout season in 2012; that season, he hit 27 home runs, drove in 82 runs, scored 93 runs, and stole 21 bases. Heyward was traded to the Cardinals after the 2014 season. In December 2015, he signed with the Cubs as a free agent; he was a member of the Cubs' World Series-winning 2016 team. Heyward was released by the Cubs in November 2022 and played for the Dodgers in 2023 and 2024.
Standing 6 feet 5 inches (1.96 m) tall and weighing 245 pounds (111 kg), Heyward throws and bats left-handed. He has worn uniform No. 22 through most of his major league career in honor of a high school friend and teammate who died in a traffic collision. Heyward has been widely regarded as one of the best outfield defenders in MLB. He won both the Fielding Bible and the NL Gold Glove Awards for right fielders in 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017, and he received Wilson's MLB Defensive Player of the Year in 2014.
The son of Dartmouth graduates, Jason Heyward was born on August 9, 1989, in Ridgewood, New Jersey. His father, Eugene, is from Beaufort, South Carolina, and his mother, Laura, is from New York City; they met at Dartmouth. Eugene played basketball and majored in engineering and Laura studied French. Eugene's uncle, Kenny Washington, played basketball for two John Wooden-led NCAA championship UCLA teams in 1964 and 1965. Jason has one younger brother, Jacob (b. 1995), who attended the University of Miami and played baseball for the Hurricanes. Jacob was drafted by the San Francisco Giants in 2016.
The Heywards moved to the Atlanta metropolitan area soon after he was born. Jason played and showed marked ability in baseball from an early age. Before he turned 10, he played for a national championship. Eugene helped fuel both of his sons' passion for baseball. He dedicated himself to driving them to every tournament and competition possible in the family Chevrolet Suburban, which racked up hundreds of thousands of miles between the events and his 90-minute work commute to and from Robins Air Force Base to the south in Houston County.
While his father emphasized that working hard and approaching the game with discipline were important, he also stressed that baseball was to be, above all else, fun. Heyward has maintained this same approach throughout his youth and professional career. One tournament in which he played was the renowned East Cobb Baseball program, where he was a standout and has produced other major league players. Heyward attended Henry County High School in McDonough near Atlanta. Heyward briefly played basketball in his youth but concentrated exclusively on baseball in high school at his father's urging. In February 2010, an Associated Press reporter learned from a varsity coach that Heyward's early batting practice exploits proved fatal to an oak tree in deep center field at the high school playing field.
Facing off against future Major League Baseball (MLB) catcher Buster Posey of Lee County High in the Georgia Class AAAA baseball championship during Heyward's sophomore year, Henry County won two of the best-of-three series. Posey was actually the starting pitcher in the first game as Henry Country prevailed, 2–1. Heyward hit a game-tying 400 ft (120 m) home run in Game 2 to cap an eight-run comeback, but Lee County prevailed 14–10. The next game, Heyward's three-run single was the game and series winner in a 16–14 outcome. During his junior season, he again helped lead the Henry County High Warhawks to the state championship. As a senior, he batted .520 with eight home runs (HR) and 29 runs batted in (RBIs).
One of Heyward's close friends and teammates from the 2005 AAAA Georgia state championship team, Andrew Wilmot, died in a traffic collision while attending college. Wilmot was a catcher who wore the uniform number 22, the number Heyward would later wear in his major league career to honor him. Wilmot's mother, Tammie Ruston, was Heyward's high school literature teacher in his senior year.
Numerous colleges showed interest and recruited Heyward, including UCLA, which offered a full-ride scholarship due in part to the family connection. Heyward was also especially interested in Clemson and Georgia Tech. Concurrently, the hometown Atlanta Braves had followed and scouted him for years, while attempting to conceal their excitement.
Heyward was the 14th overall selection by Atlanta in the 2007 Major League Baseball draft. Despite signing a National Letter of Intent with UCLA, he chose professional baseball over college and signed a contract with the team worth $1.7 million.
At age 17, Heyward began his professional career in Minor League Baseball in the Braves' system. He played for both the Gulf Coast League Braves and the Danville Braves of the Appalachian League in 2007. He homered in his first professional game. In 12 minor league contests in 2007, he batted .302 with one home run and six RBIs. In 2007, Baseball America selected Heyward as the Braves' top overall prospect and the organization's best power hitter; it cited Heyward as having the best strike zone discipline and excelling at multiple other skills.
Heyward split the 2008 season between Single-A Rome of the South Atlantic League (SAL) and High-A Myrtle Beach of the Carolina League. He was named the club's Player of the Month in April. While playing for Rome, Heyward had 42 multi-hit games, including two four-hit games. He finished in the top three in nine offensive categories for the club.
The Braves promoted Heyward to Myrtle Beach on August 25, 2008. He played seven games there. Following the 2008 season, Baseball America named Heyward the South Atlantic League's Most Outstanding Prospect, Top Batting Prospect, and Most Exciting Player. He was also a Baseball America All-Star for the entire minor leagues, Mid- and Post-Season All-Star, Low-Class A All-Star, and the Braves' second-best prospect. MLB.com named him the third-best overall minor league prospect. ESPN.com named him the minor leagues' best corner outfield prospect, the #1 Atlanta prospect, and third-overall minor-league prospect.
Heyward started the 2009 season at Myrtle Beach and then gained successive promotions to Double-A Mississippi and Triple-A Gwinnett. He was named the Carolina League Player of the Week on May 18. Heyward was selected to the Carolina League All-Star team but missed the game due to an oblique injury. He participated in the All-Star Futures Game at Busch Stadium. On July 4, the Braves promoted Heyward to Mississippi, where he was named the team's Player of the Month. From September 5–7, he appeared with the Gwinnett Braves of the Triple-A of the International League. He also played four games with the Peoria Saguaros of the Arizona Fall League (AFL). That September, both Baseball America and USA Today named Heyward their Minor League Player of the Year. He won the Braves' Hank Aaron Award (not to be confused with MLB's Hank Aaron Award), conferred annually to the top offensive player in the Braves organization.
Entering the 2010 season, Baseball America, Keith Law of ESPN.com and Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com each listed Heyward as baseball's top prospect; BA ranked him ahead of Stephen Strasburg and Giancarlo Stanton. The Braves added Heyward to their 40-man roster before the 2010 season began.