The name "BJ Upton" has been synonymous with "mediocrity" amongst many a Braves fan, some of whom are all to eager to trade him, send him down to the minors, ask him nicely to retire, or execute any other number of foresight-lacking scenarios that involve him play somewhere (anywhere) else.
It has been a month since Fredi Gonzalez made some rather pointed comments about Upton's performance. Some considered the comments unbecoming of an Atlanta manager, others found the bracing, frank nature of the comments refreshing. While we aren't privy to BJ's thoughts on the situation, we do know one thing: his performance has improved dramatically since the comments were made.
While it's impossible to measure to what degree the comments themselves played a role in his resurgence, it's safe to say that he would have pulled himself out of the rut regardless. Rarely do players build an entire statistical foundation for performance throughout their careers only to nosedive into pumpkin status without warning. BJ Upton's career has certainly fallen short of the lofty expectations heaped upon him in his younger days, but he has been an above-average, occasional All-Star level performer since 2007.
Through the first two months of the season, Upton's strikeout rate was ~36%, his walk rate was ~9%, and his OPS was a paltry .471. He was worth -13.7 runs! Negative 13.7! Predicting daily performance was easy: a couple strikeouts, an infield pop-up, and a disgraceful ground ball unfit to be fielded by anyone. Boos rained down from the Turner Field stands. This is Atlanta, jewel of the south, the home of southern hospitality. A player needs to do something pretty egregious to get booed here. It was hard to watch.
June has seen him come to life at the plate. He is striking out less (~24%), walking more (~17%), and hitting for more power. His June OPS stands at .812, largely due to his ability to get on-base, but also due to an ISO increase of over 100 points. He's also squaring up the ball more effectively, increasing his LD% to ~21%, which is slightly high for him relative to his career performance to date. His infield-fly percentage fallen in-line with his career average (~10%), and his June BABIP is not indicative of a player that has gotten lucky (.281). In fact, one could argue that he has been slightly unlucky during this time period, as his speed lends itself to being able to beat out grounders, of which he hits plenty.
If BJ Upton can maintain a level of production even close to what he put out in June, the Braves will need to seriously consider moving him up in the lineup to get him more at-bats. Getting his speed on the bases in front of Heyward, Freeman, and his brother Justin could add a dynamic element to this Braves offense that Andrelton Simmons, bless his heart, just hasn't provided. Now the only question is: how long will it take Fredi Gonzalez to realize Upton (or Heyward) makes more sense at the top of the lineup?
Unless Fredi is planning on calling Andrelton out in the media. Touché, Fredi.
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