We’re on the cusp of firing up the 2020 baseball season, and if you’re like me and you love Truck Day then this is your favorite time of year. The Rangers’ roster (which, as you’ll recall, comes with a 26th slot this season) is starting to come into shape, and one of the guys who looks to have a legit chance at breaking camp with the big league club is Rangers’ outfielder Scott Heineman.
Heineman made his debut late in the 2019 season as the Rangers transitioned into “young guys” mode, with Scott being called up along with a couple other farmhands when the club DFA’d Asdrubal Cabrera and Tim Federowicz. He spent the better part of two months with the big league team to close out 2019, hitting .213/.306/.373 in 85 at-bats. The highlight of his first taste in the Majors came when he hit his first career home run in Yankee Stadium (he’d add another dinger in a home game vs. the Yankees a few weeks later). Scott’s older brother Tyler also made his Major League debut last season as a catcher for the Marlins, so it was a busy summer for the Heineman fam.
Heineman (Scott) was drafted by the Rangers in 2015 in the 11th round out of Oregon. He profiles as a toolsy athlete, and he’s spent quality time at all three outfield positions at each rung of the Minor League ladder he’s climbed. He also dipped his toe into first base waters in 2019, playing nine games there with Nashville and four with the Rangers.
My first look at Heineman came from watching 50 or 60 games in Frisco during the 2017 RoughRiders season. The first thing you notice about him is the athleticism, and the intensity. That RoughRiders team finished 60-80 and went through some pretty consistent offensive struggles, but Heineman and then-RoughRider Isiah Kiner-Falefa carried that lineup on a regular basis. If those two weren’t hitting, the offense was toast. Heineman hit .284/.363/.427 that season, demolished AA pitching to start the 2018 campaign, and was promptly promoted to AAA, where he remained until late last year.
Heineman’s obviously hoping to start the year with the Rangers, and I talked to him before he heads to Arizona and got his thoughts on a myriad of subjects:
-Right about that time, huh Scott?
“It’s getting to be about that time, I’m excited. I’m headed up there next Monday just to get there a little early, see some live pitching, and just feel as comfortable as I can before we kick off games.”
-First of all can you tell me about the charity event you host with your brother, the Prime Time Charity Casino Classic?
“My brother and I got involved with a charity called Team Prime Time about five years ago. The program director was my best friend growing up, his name’s Wade Clement. He really got us involved. So every year my brother and I come back in the off-season and host an event where all the proceeds go to that charity. We just want to raise as much money as we can and, most importantly, more than the money, is to get the name out there. We’re trying to bring awareness to Team Prime Time. What they do is they help kids, some who are mentally handicapped, others who can’t afford it, kids who otherwise wouldn’t have the opportunity, it helps them to get involved in after-school sports. That’s where it hits home for my brother and me because we know how important sports can be and we want kids to be able to experience that as well.”
-I know you played with Coach John Altobelli who was killed last week in the helicopter crash with Kobe Bryant, can you talk about the legacy he leaves and anything from him you’ll take with you going forward?
“Obviously a tough day, we lost nine people. I first heard about Kobe Bryant and didn’t know about Alto and his family until later in the day. I played with his son J.J. for three years in Oregon, you just feel for them, you try to do everything you can to be there for him because he’s such an incredible guy.
The biggest thing with Alto, I went to the Cape Cod League when I was 20 years old. When you’re that age you’re learning everything about life. That was my first time away from home. I had a great host family out there but, you know, you’re at the field 24 hours a day, pretty much. So Alto was like a second dad to me. He took an interest in me because I’m great friends with his son, he helped with everything. Learning about baseball, learning about life. Time management. He’d coached guys who were in positions that I wanted to get to, so he was teaching me everything he could to help me get to that position. I owe a lot to him. It’s just really sad that he’s gone.”
-You’re from the LA area and you’ve been working out there in the off-season, what kind of program are you in and have you buddied up with any of the Major Leaguers that work there as well?
“I have a great set-up here in LA, it’s top notch with our training facility. We work out five days a week with a group that includes Ryan Bruan, Christian Yelich, Mike Moustakas, my brother, Blake Rutherford, there’s a few others. We have a good group.
Obviously, it’s incredible to have my brother there. We live together, we do everything together. We’re so fortunate that if we want to do anything we can just — boom. Leave our house and we can do it together. I always have a throwing partner, I always have a hitting partner, I have someone to push me when I’m tired, so having him is big for sure.
Ryan Braun, this is going on year five or six that we’ve been together in the off-season. He’s one of my biggest influences, just because I looked up to him so much as a player before I knew him. Now getting an opportunity to know him, I just do everything I can to learn everything I can from him. He’s done so much in his career and he’s very intelligent so I try to take advantage of that.”
How much are you able to keep up with Tyler during the season?
“Well with FaceTime and technology these days I wouldn’t say it’s every day but it’s four or five times a week. You know, “How you feeling?” “How’s your wife doing?” Moreso that stuff than baseball. We try to keep the stats away from our conversations and we talk about hey, how are you feeling, where are you at mentally, are you doing everything you can possible to improve every day?”
Okay, if someone would’ve told you you could pick any stadium in the league to hit your first homer in, how far up would Yankee Stadium be on that list?
“You know what, growing up it would’ve been Boston. But after I hit it at Yankee Stadium I’m so happy it was there. How it happened, everything that went into it, it was incredible. And my brother hit his first at Citi Field, so both of us hit them in New York where both of my parents are from. So that was an incredible moment for me.
I think we looked at the numbers and I still take some heat for it. It was like, that was the only place it would’ve been a home run at. Just because of the short porch in right. So it was a home run in one out of thirty stadiums, so I’m glad it was there.”
Guys talk about blacking out while running the bases during their first home runs, how much do you remember about it?
“Yeah it happened so quick, but there’s definitely some things I remember most. That was the day my brother had been called up, he was flying to Pittsburgh that day. Roogie (Rougned Odor), he heard my brother got called up and he was getting on me. Like, “Wow, you’ve been up here for some time, you’re gonna let your brother hit a home run before you?” Roogie looked at me before that at-bat and he was like ‘hey, this is your shot.’ That’s why he’s at the top of the steps, I gave him a huge hug after. Pretty cool moment.
Another thing, we were down 10-nothing. I came in for Shin-Soo Choo defensively, and the fans in right field in Yankee Stadium were still ruthless, they were all over me. Even the ump when I was running in was like “Man, they’re all over you when they’re up 10-nothing.” You’d think they’d give me a break. And then when I did hit the home run it felt like they gave me some acknowledgment, because [the homer] was to that area too. So, that I remember, it was pretty special.”
I read about your story of being called up, where your agent had some intel and told you ahead of time that you’d be getting called up in a few days. I wanna know what those next few days were like, waiting around, still playing for Nashville, what you were thinking?
“I actually liked it because it gave me some time to prepare. Not so much the baseball aspect, but in terms of getting my stuff together in Nashville. It didn’t hit me like — BOOM, and I’m out on a six a.m. flight to Texas. So I know my family appreciated it because they were given a little notice to get out there.
Really, when he told me, I was at peace. I told myself “it’s gonna happen when it happens,” and then on that Friday our manager called me into the office. He got the call and hung up and said “You’re going to the show.” And he gave me a big hug, it was pretty special. I got to come out and celebrate with my teammates in the clubhouse, it was a moment I’ll never forget, for sure.”
Two months is a decent enough taste of the Majors, is there anything the big league coaches are getting you to do now that they’ve gotten a longer look at you?
“Up until this off-season I’d really relied on my athleticism to get me to this point. Once you get to this level, everyone’s athletic, everyone’s a good baseball player. I know I had to crack down on the mechanics of my swing, to give myself a better chance to have more consistent success. Especially with the better pitching, the way they’re able to locate mixed speeds. You just wanna give yourself the most room for error, that’s what I’ve worked a lot on this off-season.
This is the first time I’ve invested in a hitting coach, I’ve gone through Ryan Braun’s guy. He’s helped me tremendously, and I’ve been coordinating with our Texas guys. And I think they’re, you know, the best in the business.
So a lot of my off-season has been predicated on just becoming a better baseball player, whereas in previous seasons it was more ‘how can I be the strongest, fittest, best athlete?’
The biggest thing I learned last year in the big leagues, I’m glad I got that two-month time because you get hit with everything so fast. The guys — like Nick Solak, who I’m very close to — the guys who can come up and get so many things thrown at you, you have a lot of adrenaline, the guys who can take bits and pieces and just go into the game and do their thing… they tend to have more success.
Right when I got up, I took in everything. The scouting reports are so efficient, I was looking into so much detail, I would actually do myself a disservice because I was just thinking too much. So that’s a big thing I’ve talked about with our coaching staff. It’s funny — they want me to do less. Think less. How do I simplify the game? Especially in the box. I’ve already done the work, now I’m just gonna let it play out.”
Those niche baseball skills, the little baseball things, like an outfielder who can hang at first base, or a guy who hits lefties well, or a strong baserunner, the things a young player trying to carve out a role for himself on a 26-man roster has to do, how important are those things and how much thought goes into them?
“Huge, and I think more thought goes in from the team’s side than the player’s side, until it’s addressed to the player. Like it’s been addressed to me. Originally in AAA I wasn’t really thinking about those things, but those come into play big. And the more versatility you have, obviously the greater chance you have of getting into the lineup on a consistent basis.
When they brought me up they told me mainly I was gonna start against lefties, and I looked at my numbers, and I was actually hitting righties a lot better in AAA. So I was like “Damn, you guys are starting me against lefties?” And they said “Yeah, well. We have guys we want starting against righties.”
That’s how it is for a lot of players unless you’re Vladimir Guerrero Jr. where you have so much built into you, they’re gonna give you 30 straight games to prove yourself. For me, they told me it was, “You can be an every day player. This is how you make it happen.” So, you get spot starts. You get opportunities where we throw you in against lefties and if you start to have some success, it’s like okay we need to put this guy in the lineup on an every day basis.”
You’ve been described as having a high-motor, first of all is that something that gets back to you, and what do you think about it?
“I’ve always been told I have a high motor and honestly I don’t need someone to tell me to figure that out. But yeah, the coaching staff has always told me, it’s so much easier for them to tell a player to slow down than you know, “hey c’mon pick it up a little bit.”
I try to do everything at once at times, it’s important to take a step back and learn to breathe. One at-bat to the next, and I think that’s where the veterans have helped me tremendously. Hunter Pence was a huge influence on me this year just because he’s another guy with such a high motor. You see him out there giving it his all every day. I’d be pacing in the dugout back and forth and it’s like, hey, save your energy a little bit.”
-What’s the hardest pitch for you to hit?
“Change-up. I don’t wanna give away too many secrets, though.”
-Favorite player growing up?
“Tough one, I had a lot of favorite players. Manny Ramirez was my favorite baseball player, for sure.”
What kind of music you listen to?
“Mostly rap, but I like everything.”
Any pre-game or pre-AB superstitions?
“I always get my wrist taped by Jacob Newburn. He was my trainer in Frisco and last year he was our assistant in the big leagues. He always hooks me up and we have a little handshake that we take care of.”
Best flavor Pop-tart?
“Blueberry. Love blueberry pop-tarts.” [*Note - Blueberry, Strawberry, Cherry, all respectable. If you say “Birthday Cake” or something you will receive my harsh judgement. Scott passed the test.]
Finally, are you excited about the prospect of playing in the new ballpark?
“Oh yeah. Just because the heat takes a lot out of you, I think the fans will enjoy it. Especially game-to-game, it’ll help with recovery and everything. Super looking forward to it.”