Jason Heyward is the odd man out in a Dodgers roster crunch, the highly respected veteran outfielder getting designated for assignment to clear a roster spot for returning utility man Chris Taylor, the team announced Thursday.
Not even a dramatic pinch-hit, three-run homer in the eighth inning of Tuesday night’s 6-3 victory over the Seattle Mariners could save Heyward’s job, as the Dodgers chose to keep four-time Gold Glove Award-winning center fielder Kevin Kiermaier, versatile utility man Kiké Hernández and Taylor on the bench.
The 15-year veteran hit just .208 with a .682 on-base-plus-slugging percentage, six homers and 28 RBIs in 63 games in a platoon role this season, but his playing time took a significant hit when Mookie Betts moved from shortstop back to right field upon returning from a left-hand fracture last week.
“I think [the decision] is going to be what it’s going to be, no matter what,” Heyward said after Tuesday night’s game. “Years like this, when a team is all-in, I think they always have to put their best foot forward, and whatever happens, happens.”
Cutting Heyward appears to have been a matter of personnel fit for the Dodgers, who have dramatically altered their roster since he re-signed with the club on a one-year, $9-million deal in December.
At the start of the season, the Dodgers had Betts at shortstop. They had two rookies, James Outman and Andy Pages, patrolling center. And in Heyward, they had an experienced left-handed hitter who could play right field against right-handed pitching, making him a regular presence at the bottom of the Dodgers lineup.
Since then, however, Miguel Rojas emerged as the Dodgers’ top shortstop, prompting Betts’ transition back to being an everyday right fielder. Teoscar Hernández has thrived in an everyday role in left. And, most consequentially, the club also added two new center-field options at the trade deadline, acquiring Kiermaier from Toronto and switch-hitting utilityman Tommy Edman from St. Louis.
As a result, Heyward — who has 192 career starts in center field, but posted subpar defensive metrics there last season — was left without a position or clear role on the roster.
And while his bat might have been of value off the bench over the stretch run of the season, the Dodgers instead opted to keep the more defensively skilled Kiermaier, as well as the more defensively versatile duo of Hernández and Taylor.
Heyward, 35, first joined the Dodgers on a minor-league contract two offseasons ago, making the 2023 opening-day roster after being released by the Chicago Cubs near the end of the 2022 campaign.
Freddie Freeman, Heyward’s old Atlanta Braves teammate and close longtime friend in the sport, initially vouched for the outfielder to Dodgers officials, extolling Heyward’s veteran track record and steadying clubhouse presence while urging the club to take a flier on him.
“I put Jason’s name on the radar, then I put it on again and just kept going and going and going,” Freeman said in March 2023. “I just made sure to let Andrew [Friedman, president of baseball operations] know how wonderful of a man that guy is.”
During Heyward’s first season with the team, those traits quickly became clear. Not only did the outfielder have a resurgence at the plate, batting .269 with 15 home runs and a .813 OPS in 124 games, but he also became one of the most respected voices on what was a new-look team, taking on an important leadership role that transcended his status as a part-time platoon player.
“You see him every day coming in working, helping the younger guys out, his whole routine, how professional he is,” catcher Will Smith said last year. “That rubs off on guys.”
This season, however, was more of a grind for the 15-year veteran.
Heyward landed on the injured list during the opening week of the season, ultimately missing more than 40 games with lower back tightness.
Though he batted .261 with a .929 OPS in his first 26 games back from the injury — including a pinch-hit grand slam in the Dodgers’ five-run, ninth-inning comeback against the Colorado Rockies on June 18 — his performance at the plate eventually waned.
Since June 19, Heyward was batting just .172 with a .552 OPS. He missed another three weeks in July with a left knee bone bruise. And his playing time had been steadily slashed, having started only once in the Dodgers’ last 11 games following Betts’ return from the IL.
Heyward had displayed some ability to contribute off the bench, going six for 15 with three home runs in the 14 contests he entered as a mid-game sub.
His go-ahead home run Tuesday stirred speculation he might be able to survive this week’s roster crunch, too.
“He does things the right way, he was ready when called upon, and he came up with a huge hit,” manager Dave Roberts said that night. “Shoot, that was probably the highlight of the season for me thus far.”
However, Roberts stopped short of guaranteeing Heyward’s safety, acknowledging that a “tough” decision was nonetheless looming upon Taylor’s return.
Heyward still checked a lot of boxes for the Dodgers, from his role in the clubhouse to occasional pop at the plate.
But for a team that is now back at full strength offensively, and clearly placing a premium on defense as they begin to formulate their potential October plans, he no longer fit into the roster as he once did.
In what became a game of musical chairs, it was Heyward who was left without a seat.
