Justin Upton acknowledges getting antsy when the home runs dried up. After leading the majors with 12 in April, Upton hit a total of four home runs in May, June and July.
Now he’s back in April form, hitting four home runs in the first five games in August, including the game-winner in the series-opener against the Nationals on Monday.
“Obviously looking back on it, I wasn’t hitting the long ball, but I was still getting hits,” Upton said. “Sometimes you have to live with that. You have to live with your base hits, the occasional double and ride it out until you start to see the ball a little bit better.”
Upton said he’s seeing the ball well now, and it’s helping him get his timing back. He and hitting coach Greg Walker tried an adjustment early in July, eliminating his high leg kick to try to get him to the ball faster. But Upton ultimately didn’t feel comfortable with that, and put the leg kick back in, but he’s been able to get to the ball in a more timely fashion.
“Most leg-kick guys, no matter how big or small a leg kick it is, get in the habit of hanging until they see the ball and then everything happens late, all at once,” Walker said. “Usually those guys are late on fastballs, early on breaking balls. …
“He’s doing a better job of getting his foot down and then swinging the bat, instead of all of it happening real late and rushed. When he gets there on time and can stay there, he’s everything you want Justin Upton to be.”
When Upton is hot, the Braves are hot. Upton was hitting .405 (17-for-42) with three doubles, four homers and 10 RBIs over the Braves’ 11-game win streak entering Tuesday. He hit .350 (14-for-40) with four doubles, six home runs and nine RBIs over the Braves’ 10-game win streak April 5-16.
“We just wanted to make everything more efficient,” Upton said. “It’s a matter of slowing the game down and having a feel for the tempo of the game.”
Wagner visit: The Braves got a surprise visit from former closer Billy Wagner on Tuesday afternoon. Wagner made the 2 1/2-hour trip from his family farm in Crozet, Va., with his two oldest sons, Will, 15, and Jeremy, 12.
Wagner, who retired after the 2010 season, recently completed an autobiography “A Way Out,” which was co-authored by former ChopTalk magazine writer Patty Rasmussen. It is set to be released Sept. 3.
“Honestly, it’s not meant to be a bestseller; it’s meant to help that kid in southwest Virginia who somebody said ‘You’re not going to be anything, and you’re never going to accomplish anything,’” Wagner said. “So they can read it and go, ‘Well this kid was in the same situation.’ And you may not go on to be a major leaguer, but there’s a way out.”
Wagner finished fifth all-time in saves with 422. He completed his career in 2010 with the Braves in manager Bobby Cox’s final season.
Wagner played only one of his 16 seasons with Atlanta, but grew up a Braves fan in southwest Virginia and said, “We don’t watch anything else.” He pays special attention to closer Craig Kimbrel, whom he took under his wing as a rookie.
“To see him grow and then watch how he went on and dominated, it’s fun to watch,” Wagner said. “I told him it’s like looking at myself in the mirror.”
Wagner is now the head baseball coach at the Miller School of Albemarle in Charlottesville, Va., where his son Will is a freshman. He said his transition into retirement has been easy.
“I haven’t missed it at all,” Wagner said. “I’m on the baseball field all the time as a coach. It’s fun to look back. I know I’m looking at ‘Sports Center’ and I go ‘Did I even play?’ It feels weird to watch. I feel like I played it 20 years ago.”
Ubiquitous Simmons: Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez lost a friendly wager and a bottle of wine to Jeff Porter on Monday night when the Braves trainer tried to convince him that his shortstop Andrelton Simmons had covered home plate on a foul pop to the screen in the ninth inning.
“He’s unbelievable he’s so active on defensive stuff,” Gonzalez said. “If that ball comes back a little bit, he may catch it, he may call (catcher Brian McCann) off. It might have been first time in history of the game to score it ‘F6’ behind the plate.”
While McCann was fielding the ball in foul ground, Gonzalez was expecting that maybe Freddie Freeman had made his way down the first baseline to cover home plate, but video replays confirmed it was Simmons.
“He’s like Bugs Bunny,” said Gonzalez, referencing the classic Looney Tunes cartoon when Bugs Bunny plays every position on the field. “Bugs Bunny at first base, Bugs Bunny at second base.”
