 Heyward returned from the DL with increased difficulty to drive the ball while batting. A sixth-inning home run against the Baltimore Orioles on July 1 was Heyward's first since April 29 against the St. Louis Cardinals, a span of 104 at-bats. However, he hit just four home runs from the end of April through August 11. Further, his walk rate declined from 14.6 percent the year before to 10.7 percent. His line drive rate in that time dropped from 17.8 to 13 percent and one-quarter of his balls hit in the air were infield pop-ups, compared with eight percent the year before. During a game against the Chicago Cubs on August 23, he hit his first career grand slam.
