Dodgers OF Jason Heyward Left a Gift in All of His Teammates’ Lockers Ahead of Opening Day

Ahead of the Dodgers’ Opening Day 8-2 victory of the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday night, new Dodger outfielder Jason Heyward treated his teammates to a pre-season gift. Heyward left a bottle of wine in everyone’s locker before the game — a 2020 cabernet sauvignon from Caymus Vineyards in Napa Valley, to be exact.

The gesture from the longtime MLB veteran was extremely generous, but it was more than just a nice gift. Heyward specifically chose wine as the gift, and told Jack Harris of the LA Times why.

“To make wine, you start off knowing it’s gonna take time,” Heyward said. “This group, we understand it takes time to get where we want to go. … “There’s a lot of grind in that process. But at the end of the day, there is positivity at the end.”

The Dodgers looked much different on Opening Day than they did when they lost in the NLDS around five months ago. Their starting lineup on Opening Day featured three guys who weren’t on the team — J.D. Martinez, David Peralta and Miguel Rojas — one who wasn’t on the postseason roster — James Outman — and another who didn’t get a single at-bat in the series — Miguel Vargas. And those are only some of the new faces that were introduced to the Dodger Stadium crowd before the game.

Different, however, is not always a bad thing. There’s an energy level around this team that has Dodger fans excited, and on Thursday, it showed. The Dodgers were an impressive 5-11 with runners in scoring position, and were doing all the little things that a great baseball team does.

So while the team isn’t going to win 111 games this year, and will probably be in a much closer battle for the NL West crown, Dodger fans need to understand that it’s okay. Because the ultimate goal is being the last team standing at the end of the season, and these guys know that their goal is not something that can be completed in one day — you know, like how you make wine.

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