Greeson: Heyward, Braves to face big test starting tonight

Amid the raucous collection of red uniforms Sunday at Turner Field was a smiling 20-year-old rookie.

Jason Heyward, the "J-Hey Kid," who had just fashioned a hall-of-fame at-bat that produced a game-winning, two-run single with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, was coated in shaving cream, his smile glowing as brightly as the foam.

His older Atlanta Braves teammates acted as joyous as little leaguers. All that was missing was the postgame pizza and ice cream.

"You want to be in that situation to help your team out," Heyward told reporters after the Braves' 4-3 win Sunday. "You can't back down when they need you the most."

It's been five years since the Braves were in the playoffs. For most of the 1970s and '80s that would be a highlight for the franchise. For most of Heyward's lifetime, it can accurately be described as a drought.

Now, with the Philadelphia Phillies, the National League's team to beat, headed to Turner Field for a three-game series starting tonight, Heyward has become the buzz of baseball.

He started his major league career with a three-run, 440-plus-foot homer and has done nothing to temper the expectations since that jaw-dropping debut.

The questions surrounding Heyward before the season were never about talent, though. His gifts made him the No. 1 prospect in all of baseball before the season. His physical tools were off the charts.

The concerns, rather, centered less on can and more on when. Was he ready now? How mentally prepared could he be for the pressure, could he handle the daily grind? Heyward's talent was a given, but the urge to wonder if the spring training highlights would be forgotten by May 1 was difficult to ignore.

Now, the questions persist, but the tone has radically changed.

Forget rookie of the year, can Heyward win the NL MVP? Why is the team's top run-producer -- he has an eye-popping, pitcher-quaking 15 RBIs in 12 games -- hitting seventh? How high is the ceiling for baseball's best hitting prospect since Albert Pujols and arguably the most promising Braves slugger since Hank Aaron?

Heyward physically has developed at warp speed, but his transition into the team's focal point can and should remain at a steady pace. Yes, at his current pace -- he's on track to drive in 202 runs -- he could be youngest MVP ever. Hitting seventh is a perfect spot for him for now, plus a move into the No. 3 spot in the lineup only raises the already expanding expectations and intense scrutiny from fans, media, teammates and himself.

To be fair, Heyward is 20, after all, and similar high hopes and early praise have been lavished on random and mostly forgettable names at the dawn of every baseball season. (Was it really five years ago that Jeff Francoeur was the next Dale Murphy?)

But this kid has the look and feel of the real thing, doesn't he? From his tape-measure shot to start the season to his game-winning single Sunday -- which he slapped the other way on what Rockies catcher Chris Ianetta called "a pretty good pitch" -- he has it, even if you can't always describe it.

"He's the one," Braves teammates Eric Hinske told the Atlanta Journal Constitution. "These guys don't come around that often, but he's the one."

These Braves have the look -- and the pitching -- of a team poised to contend for the long haul in the National League East. The journey in truth and in earnest starts tonight, and if Atlanta is going to get there, it will be with the J-Hey Kid leading the way.

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