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- [Jason] Want to do it again?
What's up, everybody?
"J-Hey" here with you today to talk about some outfield fundamentals and some little tips for me that I use
to get ready every play.
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So what I want to talk about first is what happens, a flyball right off the bat,
what position do I get myself in before the pitch happens, and then after the ball gets put in play.
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Every pitch you'll see me,
I get down and I get ready in a defensive stance.
We call it "the creep."
I try to have the weight on the balls of my feet so I can go any direction, I can go diagonal in,
diagonal in this way. I can go side to side.
I can go back on an angle this way or this way over my shoulder.
And sometimes you got to go straight back on a line drive.
So if we're in a good position, I'm in my creep as the pitcher is about to make
the pitch, and I see it off the bat, then I drop step, open my hips up, and turn,
and take the first two and a half, three steps as hard as possible under control so I'm
ready in a good position to make the play.
Another important tip is to not cross our feet when we go back on a ball because if we do that, you see,
we lose our balance, then we can't react to the ball.
So I'm always going to make sure I'm in my creep position, drop step back, open my hips up,
and that way, I'm still balanced, I can get going that first
again, most important two and a half to first three steps in the right direction,
then I have a lot of room for error.
I have a great chance of making a play that everybody is going to be happy about.
- [Announcer 1] Leaping catch by Heyward on the warning track.
- Now let's see what it looks like to have a ball go over my left shoulder in the right-field corner
Here we go.
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So on this next one, you're going to see me drop back over my right shoulder this time.
Here we go.
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Boom.
You see how that ball that time, it, kind of, tailed back this way.
Sometimes the wind will take that.
Well, that's another good thing to have when you don't cross your feet, you use your hips, open up,
get yourself in a good position to go the right direction.
And that's how you have fun playing outfield because you know you gave yourself a great chance.
- Racing toward third.
The throw by Heyward, all the way to the bag, and he's going to be out.
Great throw by Heyward.
- We do this a lot during the game, reading the situation before it happens;
knowing where to throw the ball, looking at the scoreboard,
making sure we know who's hitting, how many outs, what the score is, what the situation is.
Right now, there's going to be nobody on base.
And what I'm going to do is I'm going to get to the ball quickly.
You're going to see me break down to a knee.
I kind of do it just to get there quickly, make sure I keep it in front of me.
But then I'm going to get up right away, and you'll see I'm going to make sure I make my move
in my direction towards hitting the cutoff man so we make sure that runner doesn't go past first base.
Boom.
You see how quickly I got down, kept the ball in front, looked it in, made sure I fielded it,
and then I came up, I had my eyes on the runner, make sure this runner knows, like,
you're not going to second base right here.
And that's just keeping it simple, making sure we keep the ball in front,
get the ball to the cutoff man.
When there's runners on base, we have to be thinking ahead of the play.
If there's a man on first base, I want to be ready to throw it to third base
on a base hit.
If there's a man on second base, I want to be ready to throw it home on a base hit.
Late in the game or a situation we have a chance to throw a runner out at the plate,
I've got to come up quick as possible and make a great throw.
So on this one, I'm going to act out, runner on second, base hit to right field.
I want to come up, field the ball as clean as possible, as quick as possible,
have your momentum going in the right direction towards home plate, and make a good strong throw
through your cutoff man.
Here we go.
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Boom.
And we got him.
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Got him again.
I think the most important thing is making sure I have my hips in a good position going forward and let the
momentum from my legs carry my throw to the base.
- Jason makes the catch to throw to the plate.
Here it comes.
He's out.
Double play.
- I know it looks fun, and honestly, it is fun, but it's also great knowing that we've got the best
throw off possible and we left it all on the table, made a strong throw to home and had some fun doing it.
- [Announcer 2] Suzuki, Heyward.
And Jason makes a sliding catch.
- One of the most important things I always say is communication from the outfield.
If I'm playing right field, I'm letting my center fielder know,
but also the infielders, the first baseman, second baseman, and sometimes plays in here
behind second base, we let the shortstop know as well.
So it's a big part of this game that we communicate with each other so we don't collide.
But it's also fun to see who can call out the loudest and make sure we make the play.
I got it, I got it, I got it, I got it.
That right there is what I try to tell my teammates around me that I'm going to call the ball until it hits
my glove, so that way, there's as little confusion as possible,
and we can all be safe, make a great play, and have some fun doing what we love best,
keeping people from scoring on defense.
- Sensational catch, Jason Heyward.
- Five times he's won the Gold Glove and put the skills on display.
- I really appreciate everybody coming through, spending some time with me,
and focusing in on some tips that will really help you become a Gold Glove outfielder.
Some of these tips I started off learning the game early as seven years old, but today,
they still help me become a better outfielder.
Always practicing, always working to get better, always having fun on defense.
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