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Heisey among top hitters in Class AA
Intelligencer Journal
Jun 10, 2009 02:26 EST
By JOEL SCHREINER, Correspondent

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If the Southern League handed out a Most Valuable Player award for the first half of the season, Chris Heisey would win it hands down.

No questions asked.

In fact, you'd be hard-pressed to find many players at the Class AA level having a better all-around season than the Donegal High grad.

He's been that good. The numbers don't lie.

Through Monday's games, the center fielder for the Carolina Mudcats leads the league in hitting (.373), hits (78), slugging percentage (.622), extra-base hits (30) and runs scored (44).

He is fifth in home runs (10) and second in doubles (18).

"I have no complaints," Heisey said. "Any time you are doing this well, you have to feel pretty good about it."

Scanning all other Class AA leagues, you will only find one full-time player with a higher average (Mike Baxter is batting .376 for San Antonio in the Texas League).

Heisey's .450 on-base percentage, which is second in the Southern League, would also rank him in the top two of any other league.

"Hopefully, I can keep things up," Heisey said. "I don't know what the rest of the season holds, so I just have to keep playing my best."

It was two years ago this week when the Cincinnati Reds picked Heisey, out of Messiah College, in the 17th round (504th overall) of the Major League Draft.

That previous spring at Messiah, Heisey earned All-America and Commonwealth Conference MVP honors when he hit .428 and led the Falcons in runs, doubles and stolen bases.

His road through the Reds' farm system has taken him to Billings (Rookie League) where hit .289 in 2006.

The following year, he played in Dayton (Class A) where he also hit .289 and ended the year in Sarasota (high Class A) where he batted .349 in 43 at-bats.

He began the 2008 season back in Sarasota and hit .287 with 31 doubles in 436 at-bats. He then played 19 games for the Chattanooga Lookouts, the Reds' former Class AA affiliate, where he hit .316 in 79 AB's.

With each level, Heisey has improved, but this year's progression is off the charts.

"I wouldn't say it's so surprising, but I guess my expectations were not this high," Heisey said. "I made some changes to my approach at the plate. I knew with those changes, I would do better but probably didn't expect that much."

For the last week of May he was named the Southern League's Player of the Week when hit went 15-for-27 (a .556 clip).

In 55 games played this season, Heisey has been held hitless just 12 times, has had a 13-game hitting streak and hit .409 in the month of May.

"I've been fortunate lately and I am seeing a lot of pitches to hit," Heisey said. "My goal now is to prove that this is not just a hot streak."

In the Mudcats' season-opening series at Mississippi, Heisey led off a game with a home run off future Hall of Famer Tom Glavine, the recently-released pitcher who was then making a rehab start for the Braves.

"That was pretty cool," Heisey recalled. "I was getting a lot of messages from friends and family at home. Any time you face a guy like that, you get pretty excited."

Heisey would also be pretty stoked if the call came promoting him to Class AAA or even the bigs. But, for now, he's making the most of his time in Carolina.

"They keep you in the dark, you really don't know," Heisey said of the Reds' decision makers. "They don't know until the time comes. I understand how it works. As of now, there are no vacant spots and I don't feel like they have to make room just to move me up."

His actions on the field, however, may soon force their hand.


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