Chase Headley: San Diego Padres’ hitting genius- MLB Player Profile
Chase Jordan Headley is one of the most sort after hitters in the Major League Baseball. The 28-year-old third baseman has done particularly well in the 2012 season and there are many expectations from him in the coming seasons. His life and career deserves
a closer look.
Born in Fountain, Colorado, Chase is a natural athlete. He was an accomplished high school player both in baseball and basketball for the Fountain-Fort Carson High School from where he graduated in 2002. He was a three times Colorado All-Star baseball player.
He was a valedictorian in high school as well.
Along with receiving many other accolades, he was included in the Colorado Rockies Senior All-Star game where he homered off in the first at-bat. He was also a part of the Colorado Rockies Select Scout Team for two years.
Chase was originally a shortstop at the University of Pacific in Stockton, California but later moved to the third base. He later transferred to the University of Tennessee. He was performing really well in the studies along with playing the ball game. Headley
had injury trouble in his sophomore year but recovered and performed well enough to be the Most Valuable Player.
San Diego Padres drafted him in the second round of the First-Year Draft in 2005. His professional career started with the Class Short Season-A Eugene Emeralds and the same year he got a chance to play for the Class-A Fort Wayne Wizards.
His good performance in 2005 got him a spot on the high Class-A Lake Elsinore Storm. He showed consistent good work and moved up the ranks in 2007 and 2008 playing for the San Antonio Missions, a Double-A affiliate for the Padres and then for the Portland
Beavers which is a Triple-A team.
In the four seasons in the Minor League, he posted a combined batting average of .301 with an amazing .399 on-base percentage. He also drove in 225 runs and went long on 51 occasions. In 376 games, he scored 241 runs and had 425 hits.
Headley’s Major League career started in 2007, though he only played eight games and had 18 at-bats posting a .222 batting average and a .333 on-base percentage with four hits.
Chase got more time in the Majors in 2008, a season in which he also played for the Portland Beavers. In 331 at-bats for the Padres, he had 89 hits, posting a .269 batting average and improving upon the previous year’s on-base percentage by four points.
2009 and 2010 were years of similar consistent performance for Chase. Playing over 155 games in both years, he had 142 and 161 hits respectively. He average over .260 in both seasons and the on-base percentage was also reasonable. His runs production also
saw a steady rise with 62 runs in 2009 and 77 in 2010.
The 2011 season was bright for Chase but injury during the season meant he was not able to play through the season. He did post a .289 batting average with a .374 on-base percentage, with 110 hits in 381 at-bats. He had 44 RBI’s and four home-runs. His
year with the glove was also quite a good one.
The 2012 season was undoubtedly Headley’s career defining year. He just missed a single game in the regular season for the second time in his career. In 604 at-bats, he hit 173 hits, 33 of them extra-base and scored 95 runs.
Chase posted a batting average of .286 and a .376 on-base percentage. He also batted in 115 runs, the highest of the year in the National League and the first time he crossed the 100 RBI mark in the Majors during a single season. Chase also hit a personal
best of 31 home-runs.
Accolades showered on the switch hitter who won the National League Player of the Month Award twice in August and September. He won the Rawlings Gold Glove award for his excellent work on the third base. He also received the Silver Slugger Award for his
amazing performance with the bat and was the NL RBI Champion.
There have been many teams interested in adding chase to their ranks but the San Diego Padres know the value that Headley possess and have declined a trade possibility.
It would certainly be safe to say that we should be seeing a lot of good work in seasons to come from Chase Headley for the San Diego Padres and one day he should have his name written along with some of the very best hitters who have played the game.
Tags: