A day after benching all three of his struggling regulars for the first time all season, Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez had Jason Heyward and Dan Uggla back in the lineup Friday night against the Nationals.
Part of that had to do with the fact that Heyward (7-for-14) and Uggla (11-for-23) hit Stephen Strasburg well. But of those three everyday players hitting under .200, B.J. Upton is the biggest concern at this point. He’s hitting .146, the lowest of all qualified players in the major leagues.
Gonzalez said he didn’t have a timetable in mind for how long he might sit Upton, but it’s not like to be an extended period.
“It’s going to be a feel thing,” Gonzalez said. “I’m a believer that to get out of your funk you’ve got to play. There’s not a magic number.”
He’s already sat Upton for five of the past seven games, giving Upton only 10 at-bats total in a week entering Friday.
“If you spend too much time not playing, when you put him in there it may be even worse,” Gonzalez said. “Because now all of a sudden he hasn’t seen live pitching in 10 days or 12 days.”
When asked if he had considered sending Upton the minor leagues to work out his problems, Gonzalez acknowledged that the thought had crossed his mind, but he said it’s not something the Braves have discussed.
As a veteran with five or more years of service time, Upton would have to consent to a minor league assignment. He played eight seasons for the Tampa Bay Rays and is in the first year of a five-year $75.25 million contract with the Braves.
Gonzalez clarified again later that sending Upton to the minors is not an option they’re considering. His answer was just an indication of the brainstorming he’s been doing to figure out what he can do to help his struggling center fielder.
“The thing you feel good about — the guy works,” Gonzalez said.
Upton was on the field for early work again Friday afternoon, joining Uggla and Heyward for “flips,” underhand tosses, from bullpen catcher Alan Butts. His brother Justin Upton was out by the batting cage looking on. Gonzalez said nobody maybe other than his brother is pulling any harder for B.J. than he is.
“I’ve got my fingers crossed in my back pocket, just going ‘C’mon man,’” said Gonzalez, demonstrating what he does in the dugout during games. “You pull for these guys.”
Simmons sits: With the Braves in the midst of playing 20 consecutive games, Gonzalez has planned to give shortstop Andrelton Simmons a rest here or there. After watching him commit his third error in seven games Thursday night, Friday proved a good time.
Gonzalez jokingly blames an ESPN producer for jinxing Simmons, mentioning that the sure-handed shortstop hadn’t committed an error all season May 24 in New York, the day he went out and committed his first.
For his part, Simmons said he’s not dwelling on the mistakes.
“It’s the first time when I’ve made errors, and it didn’t stay in my head,” Simmons said. “Used to be, when I was in the minors, whenever I made an error I was trying to figure out what was going on, and thinking about it, it would lead to another error. I made like 10 errors in 15 games in (Single-A) Lynchburg. … I’m not feeling like that right now. It’s just stuff that happens. It’s not in my head right now.”
Home-run derby? Braves fans are already getting excited at the thought of seeing Evan Gattis in the Home Run Derby as part of the All-Star festivities July 15 in New York, and so, frankly, is Gattis.
The rookie phenom said he would be happy to accept an invitation to participate if he is among those asked by the yet-to-be designated National League captain.
“I would love it,” said Gattis, who said he wouldn’t worry his swing getting off-kilter. “Nah, I wouldn’t be too worried about it. It’s just one day.”
Last year Gattis watched the home-run derby with some buddies during extended spring training, when he was out with a wrist injury. Participating this year would just add to the legend of his remarkable season.
“Just knowing that people would be watching, maybe my dad throwing — that’d be cool,” said Gattis, whose father, Jo, coached him until he was 17 with his travel team, the Dallas Tigers.
Gattis was tied for fourth in the National League with 12 home runs, entering Friday, but in only 137 at-bats, fewest among any NL player with double-digit homers.
Etc.: Kris Medlen did some running and took batting practice Friday and said he's on track to make his scheduled start Monday against the Pirates. Medlen had to leave Wednesday's game against the Blue Jays after getting hit in the left calf by a line drive. "I really only felt it the day of, that night," Medlen said. … Dish Network customers in the Atlanta area did not get the Braves' Friday night series opener against Washington, nor will they get most other weekend Braves games in June unless there's a change. Unlike other cable and satellite television providers in metro Atlanta, Dish has not agreed to terms with Fox Sports South on additional fees for the 45 games the network added from Peachtree TV in February.
