After the Braves were shutout in their home opener Tuesday night and had scored two or fewer runs for the fifth time in their first seven games, Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez made a change to his lineup and he went to a logical spot. He sat the struggling B.J. Upton Wednesday against the Mets and gave Jordan Schafer his first start in center field.
Gonzalez said he planned to get Upton back in the lineup Thursday, but it remains to be seen whether Upton will be hitting second again when he returns, as he has been since the start of the season. Without Upton in the 2 hole Wednesday, Gonzalez went with shortstop Andrelton Simmons batting second.
“Well he doesn’t strike out,” Gonzalez said.
He meant that literally. Simmons was batting .292 (7-for-24) entering Wednesday night, with no strikeouts in 27 plate appearances. Upton, by comparison, was tied with Josh Reddick for the major-league lead with 13 strikeouts, and he was hitting .138.
Upton also failed to track down a Travis d’Arnaud flyball in center field Tuesday night that Justin Upton had to make a diving attempt at. It proved costly as it dropped in for a leadoff double which the Mets used for a two-run seventh inning.
Gonzalez made it sound like the move with Simmons was temporary, but Simmons certainly gives him some flexibility if he changes his mind.
“It’s just for today,” Gonzalez said. “It’s not like it’s set in stone for the next six months because he’s doing a nice job there in the eighth hole. But I think I’ve gotten to where I’d probably hit him anywhere in the lineup.”
Gonzalez said his reasoning for the lineup change was to get more at-bats from his bench players, and that’s a trend he said will continue as the Braves play a stretch of 16 straight games without an off day.
“I haven’t played my bench,” Gonzalez said. “Schafer hasn’t gotten a start. Here we are eight days into the season; we’ve got to get him in the flow. And (Tyler) Pastornicky hasn’t even gotten an at-bat. And (Ramiro) Pena hasn’t got a start, hasn’t gotten four at-bats. I told the guys (Tuesday) in our advance meeting, in these next 16 days these guys need to play.”
