One night during the 2020 season, Chicago Cubs veteran outfielder Jason Heyward took catcher Willson Contreras out to dinner.
Teammates having dinner together isn’t atypical, but on this occasion it served a specific purpose. Heyward knows better than most the highs and lows within a season and career. Heyward’s advice centered on the big picture: Communicate when you might need help. If something isn’t going your way, take your time. Observe and learn.
“His job has a lot of expectations, so I wanted to acknowledge that I understand it’s not easy as a catcher coming in at the time he came into this organization and let him know I was there,” Heyward told the Tribune. “I understand what he’s trying to do is hard and what he wants to accomplish, letting him know that, over time, most likely there’s going to be coaches that come and go, that’s just a part of the game — different systems, different mindsets — but that he’s going to be here a lot longer than a lot of people.”
