Let’s face it. The Chicago Cubs Jason Heyward doesn’t like leadoff. He despises it. Still, Joe Maddon put them there, because there were ‘no other options.’ There were other options. But Heyward was a scapegoat, as mentioned below.
So would you, Joe Maddon, subject Heyward to this instead of spots two through eighth? It doesn’t make sense. Still, Maddon still threw him out there for 147 plate appearances. The result? A .147 average, with all the numbers lower than the ‘not leadoff’ numbers.
So why would Maddon leadoff occasionally?