Jason Heyward is starting and Jose Constanza is benched? Oh My!

Why is everyone acting like Gonzalez is making the worst decision of the season by going with Jason Heyward down the stretch?

It’s not that far fetched folks. It’s not as crazy as it seems.

According to most knowledgable baseball writers, scouts, and managers, I believe Heyward is better than Jose Constanza.

You’re asking, “Why are you writing this?”

In my post earlier today, a person commented this:

they need to trade Lowe and Heyward. Heyward has the biggest ego. He doesn’t dive for the ball and when it gets away from him, he trots after it. That is on the defensive side, now for offensive, he seems to be getting some hits now but where has he been all year? Oh yeah that’s right with an injury and he isn’t even all the way through his sophomore year. Send him back to the minors and give Constanza a shot.

Lowe doesn’t even get an explanation, you have seen his pitching lately.

… and then he recently finished with this after battling it out with others …

ok you are still talking about offense, but what about defense? Heyward sucks at defense, he can catch pop ups and fly balls, any baseball player can do that, but he doesn’t make any spectacular plays. Just like Gonzalez, he is an awesome defensive player with a so-so bat, that is what Constanza is, awesome defense, plus he can get on base with a bunt, HELLO better than Heyward!

Yes, this is a small sample of the Braves population but I’ve seen it all over Twitter as well.

Let just take a look at the two, historically.

Jason Heyward’s minor league stats:

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	Lev	Aff	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	TB
2007	17	2 Teams	2 Lgs	Rk	ATL	12	48	43	4	13	5	0	1	6	1	3	9	.302	.354	.488	.843	21
2008	18	2 Teams	2 Lgs	A-A+	ATL	127	533	471	91	149	29	6	11	56	15	51	78	.316	.381	.473	.854	223
2009	19	3 Teams	3 Lgs	A+-AA-AAA	ATL	99	422	362	69	117	25	4	17	63	10	51	51	.323	.408	.555	.963	201
4 Seasons						240	1010	882	165	280	60	10	29	125	26	106	139	.317	.390	.507	.897	447

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 9/19/2011.

And let’s examine our boy Jose Constanza:

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	Lev	Aff	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	TB
2005	21	2 Teams	2 Lgs	A–A	CLE	87	392	342	39	88	5	5	0	24	26	43	52	.257	.346	.301	.647	103
2006	22	2 Teams	2 Lgs	A+-A	CLE	120	512	434	86	134	20	9	2	36	39	72	80	.309	.410	.410	.820	178
2007	23	Kinston	CARL	A+	CLE	112	498	445	71	122	13	4	2	34	39	39	80	.274	.334	.335	.669	149
2008	24	Akron	EL	AA	CLE	95	376	338	44	94	12	6	0	34	23	28	42	.278	.334	.349	.683	118
2009	25	Akron	EL	AA	CLE	130	575	486	98	137	15	7	0	46	49	75	65	.282	.378	.342	.719	166
2010	26	Columbus	IL	AAA	CLE	113	448	404	69	129	11	8	1	32	34	35	54	.319	.373	.394	.766	159
2011	27	Gwinnett	IL	AAA	ATL	86	363	333	47	104	2	4	1	25	23	25	41	.312	.361	.351	.712	117
7 Seasons						743	3164	2782	454	808	78	43	6	231	233	317	414	.290	.364	.356	.720	990

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 9/19/2011.

Finished yet?

Are you seeing anything glaring? I don’t see anything other than SB category that Constanza has Heyward beat in. Nothing that would signify that Constanza is the better player, offensively.

Nothing.

We all know their current stats but maybe you don’t know that Heyward has a .455 OBP in his last 12 games and batting .286. Constanza is slumping ever since his ankle injury, but he hasn’t had that much action.

For the sake of the Braves future, keep playing Heyward, he’ll come around.

Everyone else agree?