Atlanta's outfield has been in disarray since, particularly this season with the trade of right fielder Jeff Francoeur, once regarded as a fixture. The club has used 11 outfielders this season as it struggles to stay in playoff contention.

Jason Heyward, the USA TODAY Minor League Player of the Year, cannot get to Atlanta soon enough for an organization looking for stability in the wide expanse of outfield in Turner Field.

The left-handed hitting, left-handed throwing right fielder — the 14th overall pick in the 2007 draft — turned 20 in August, yet it is reasonable to project he will be with the Braves in 2010.

After all, it has been done before. Jones, the 1995 and 1996 USA TODAY Minor League Player of the Year, was 20 in his first full season in the big leagues in 1997.

Since his July 4 promotion to the Class AA (Pearl) Mississippi Braves, Heyward, 6-5, 220 pounds, is hitting .336 with seven home runs, an on-base percentage of .434 and a slugging percentage of .605.

In his first 22 games there, Heyward hit .425 and electrified crowds with mammoth home runs.

"His strengths are obvious, so you look for weaknesses and see what he needs to bear down and work on, and I have about come to the conclusion that all he lacks is experience," Mississippi manager Phillip Wellman said. "He has a great approach at the plate, he's phenomenal in right field and he is very mature. He can throw, he can run, he can steal a base.

"The only thing I don't know is if he can bunt or not."

The Braves have seen, too, that Heyward is devoted to the game's intricacies, not the fame.

"It's out there; it's always been out there," Heyward said of the hype around him. "It's not for me. I love playing the game the right way. The hype, the buzz, I don't go looking online. It doesn't concern me."

Braves general manager Frank Wren is not scheduling anything for Heyward as far as call-ups, especially with the slugger nursing a sore heel for the last 10 days.

"It amazed people he was just 19 years old, just the way he handled himself," Wren said of Heyward's brief stay with the big-league Braves in spring training.

"What has attracted us to him from the beginning is solid makeup and the fact he wants to be the best. He has never changed, never slowed down in his desire to be the best he can be."

Enlarge By Michael A. Schwarz for USA TODAY Jason Heyward, the USA TODAY Minor League Player of the Year, is projected to join the Braves next season.