B.J. Upton has a new name. (Daniel Shirey-USA TODAY Sports)
B.J. Upton hit a combined .198 with 324 strikeouts in his first two seasons with the Atlanta Braves, doing nothing except getting former general manager Frank Wren fired for the blunder of giving the center fielder a five-year, $75.25 million contract as a free agent.
Now the team can only hope that new hitting coach Kevin Seitzer will get Melvin Upton Jr. back to a semblance of what he was under his old name while with the Tampa Bay Rays.
Upton joined camp workouts three days earlier than required for position players having discarded his nickname for official use and hopefully started to regain his batting stroke.
The 30-year-old claimed that going to his birth name had nothing to do with starting a new chapter, but the Braves certainly want to see something other than the hitter he was the past two seasons.
Seitzer spent time with Upton in Arizona and Florida over the winter and both think that strides have been made. A quick fix is unlikely, though.
“I don’t want to build expectations to where everybody has him under a microscope,” Seitzer said. “That’s going to happen anyway. But this is a process to build this kid back to where he was a few years ago.”
The Braves still owe Upton $46 million, but manager Fredi Gonzalez won’t be under the same pressure to put him in the lineup every day like he was while Wren was around. Rookies Eury Perez and Todd Cunningham are options in center. So could be veteran Eric Young Jr.
Seitzer wants Upton to shorten up his swing and concentrate on working the middle of the field. Of course, that was the same message from former hitting coach Greg Walker. Seitzer, though, claims there has already been some progress.
A lot of progress is needed. Upton has a .279 on-base percentage and .314 slugging mark with the Braves.
By any name and at any price, that isn’t satisfactory.
“I’m in a good spot, mentally,” Upton said. “I know what I need to do.”
