So how, Melvin Upton Jr. was asked, did the day feel? “Other than it being a little weird?” he said, giving voice to the only adjective that fit.
We saw Dale Murphy return as a Phillie. We saw Tom Glavine as a yucky Met. In April we saw Dan Uggla, now a Nat, bite the hand that’s still feeding him. But we Atlantans had never witnessed a homecoming parade to match the one in the visitors’ dugout at Turner Field from 4 to 4:30 p.m. Monday.
First to meet the assembled media was Justin Upton. Then Craig Kimbrel. Then Melvin (nee B.J.) Upton Jr. This time last year, all were Braves. Now they’re Padres.
Batting practice Monday was devoted to fraternization. Freddie Freeman eavesdropped on a Melvin Upton radio session — “Longest interview I’ve ever sat through,” Freeman said — and dispensed a hug afterward. Before donning his cap, Kimbrel displayed a new curly-on-top ‘do. The game had become a class reunion.
Said Kimbrel: “It’s been a little different. Driving into the ballpark was a little different.”
M. Upton: “I didn’t know how to get out of the clubhouse.”
For Melvin Upton, Monday wasn’t just his first game back as a visitor. It was also his first as an active Padre. He and the remaining three seasons of his $75 million contract were shipped to San Diego along with Kimbrel, the best closer in the business, on the eve of Opening Day.
Kimbrel: “I wouldn’t say being traded was a shock; it was more the timing.”
How long did it take to get over the sense of displacement? “One day,” Kimbrel said. “I had a game.”
Melvin Upton didn’t have a game. He was rehabbing an injured foot when traded and was dispatched to extended spring training. He would appear in 13 rehab games with Triple-A El Paso before being activated Monday. “Funny how it worked out,” he said.
Melvin Upton mightn’t have been the Worst Brave Ever — then again, he might — but was surely the most disappointing. In 267 games, he hit .198 with 324 strikeouts.
Asked if, over those two lost seasons, he felt he needed a change of venue, Upton said: “When you’re in it, you don’t really think about it like that. You’re trying to work your way out of it. There’s nothing I can do about it now. I’m just trying to get back to being the ballplayer I’ve been in the past.”
Justin Upton has been essentially the same as a Padre as with the Braves — a middle-of-the-order producer of runs. He ranks among the National League’s top 10 in homers (12) and RBIs (37). “It has worked out early in the year,” he said, “but there are a lot of at-bats left.”
Both Uptons are on their third big-league teams. For a time, it was possible to believe Kimbrel had boarded the same train as Chipper Jones, who made but one stop on a trek that will lead to Cooperstown. That changed around 6 p.m. on April 5. “There’s no bitterness toward the (Braves) organization,” Kimbrel said. “I love a lot of the guys over there.”
He grew up a Braves fan in Huntsville, Ala., was drafted by the team in June 2008 and made his big-league debut in May 2010. “I have a ton of great memories here,” he said. “We were able to do a lot of good things on the field.”
Living in San Diego has required a bit of acclimatization. Kimbrel was reminded of how different his native South is when he walked into the dugout and felt the humidity. His father, Mike, put in heavy mileage in May, when he followed the Padres from San Francisco to Seattle, driving all the way.
By his exalted standards, Kimbrel hasn’t quite been himself. He has blown only one of 14 save chances, but his ERA is 4.29 and his WHIP (walks/hits per inning) is a career-worst 1.429. “I haven’t been 100 percent sharp this year,” he said. “I’ve given up runs but it hasn’t really hurt the team.”
The two trades with the Padres — J. Upton was shipped there in December — were taken as evidence that the Braves were rebuilding while San Diego had gone whole-hog in its pursuit of excellence. But the Padres reported for work Monday at 29-29 to the Braves’ 27-29. As the player formerly known as B.J. might have put it: Funny how things work out.
The night, however, ended well for the alums. Justin Upton drove in a run with a groundout and scored the game-winner after drawing a walk in the 11th inning. Melvin Upton Jr. scored the tying run in the ninth after being inserted as a pinch-runner. And Kimbrel worked a 1-2-3 bottom of the 11th, the kind of inning that seems beyond the current Braves bullpen. The Padres won 5-3 after trailing 3-1 with five outs to go. Happy homecoming.
