Jens Heymer

From BR Bullpen

Jens Heymer

  • Bats Left, Throws Right

Jens Heymer has played at times for the German national team. He has played first base, shortstop and third base regularly in German league play.

Heymer was with the German junior squad from 1994-1996. He hit .407 for the Mannheim Tornados in 1997 at age 19, 10th in the southern Bundesliga-1. In '98, he was 4th in OBP (.578) and 7th in steal percentage (12 for 13). In 1999, Jens was third in average (.524), 5th in OBP (.585) and 9th in slugging (.841). He was 5 for 21 with a walk in the 1999 European Championship.

Heymer continued to star for Mannheim in 2000, leading the southern Bundesliga in average (.574) and OBP (.625); his .898 slugging was 5th. He hit .313/.421/.375 in the 2001 European Championship. In the 2002 Bundesliga, his batting line was .379/.481/.586. He was third with 30 RBI, 7th in 33 hits and 8th in slugging. He hit .395/.533/.605 with 30 runs and 32 RBI in 28 games in 2003; that year, he ranked 6th in average, tied for 6th in slugging and 8th in OBP. He was also tied with Markus Gienger for 4th in runs and tied for the lead in RBI in the southern division.

In 2004, Jens slumped to .286/.466/.416, ranking 6th in OBP. In the B-Pool European Championship, he was 17 for 22 with 5 walks, 10 doubles, 2 homers, 17 runs and 16 RBI as Germany romped its way back to the A Pool for 2005. During the 2005 Bundesliga campaign, Heymer hit .333/.476/.508 and was again 6th in the southern division in OBP. In the 2006 season, his batting line was .329/.468/.553 and he fell to 9th in OBP, though he did pace the league with 22 walks.

Heymer batted .298/.444/.500 for the 2007 Tornados. Moved to first base full-time, he led the southern division with 241 putouts. He was 2nd in walks with 20. He went 3 for 15 with 2 walks in the 2007 European Championship. In the 2007 Baseball World Cup, he was Germany's main first baseman and went 3 for 18 with a walk but all of his hits went for extra bases - 2 doubles and a homer. His homer was a solo shot in a 15-5 loss to the Dutch national team, teeing off against Nick Stuifbergen. Heymer had a big role in Germany's first win ever in a Baseball World Cup. In the 7th inning of a 0-0 game against Thailand, he doubled off Thai ace Krissada Heebthong. Markus Gienger laid down a bunt and an error by Heebthong allowed Heymer to score the winning run as Germany took a 2-0 victory over Thailand.

Heymer had his worst year yet at age 29/30, batting .235/.345/.367 for Mannheim in 2008.

Through 2008, Heymer ranks among the all-time German national team leaders in several categories, thanks in large part to his dominant effort in the 2004 European Championship B Pool. He is second in average (.359, .036 behind Martin Helmig), 15th in RBI (20), tied with Jürgen Helmig for 11th in hits (33), tied for 12th in runs (23), 2nd in slugging (.598, .086 behind Martin Helmig) and 4th in OBP (.454).

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