Dan Uggla said he didn’t notice that much of a difference with his eyes when he took batting practice Tuesday for the first time since laser surgery, and really he couldn’t. His biggest issue at the plate was recognizing breaking balls and fastballs up and in, and he’s not going to see a lot of that in batting practice.
“Even fastballs that were like up, I felt like they were a lot closer to me than when I’d go watch them on video,” Uggla said of his early-season problems. “I’d be like ‘Man, I felt like that ball was like literally right over my head and it was over the plate.’”
A follow-up appointment revealed Uggla’s vision had already improved from 20-30 or so to 20-15, he said. The biggest difference he’s noticing now is being able read the sports ticker on the TV screen, little things like that. His bigger test will be when he starts facing live pitching again on a minor league rehabilitation assignment.
Uggla will travel with the Braves to St. Louis and likely take another round or two of batting practice. He’s expected to fly home to Atlanta to have his eyes checked one final time before heading out on a rehab assignment. He’s eligible to come off the disabled list Aug. 28.
Uggla is hitting a career-low .186 and is third in the National League with 146 strikeouts. He knows he’s got work to do at the plate, even with his vision much improved and without having to worry about finding the right contact prescription.
“I’ve still got to do it physically,” Uggla said. “Just getting my eyes fixed is not just going to cure everything. I’ve still got to work. I’ve still got to prepare and keep working on my swing and be on time, but hopefully with this, it’ll help me with all that.”
He’s looking forward to feeling more confident at the plate.
“It was so hard to be consistent, go up and one at-bat I would see good,” Uggla said. “…Another at-bat it’d just be like ‘Oh man, where it is, there are two pitchers out there almost…
“It’ll be that much more of a confidence-builder, just being like ‘All right, this is what I got, no excuses,’” Uggla said. “Throw it out there and strap it on, let’s see what happens.”
J. Upton sits
Justin Upton said the strain in his upper back was feeling better on Wednesday morning, but he wasn’t feeling good enough to get back into the Braves lineup. Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez started Joey Terdoslavich in Upton’s place in left field. Upton first felt his back tighten up taking swings in the indoor cages before batting practice on Tuesday…..His brother B.J. Upton was celebrating his 29th birthday on Wednesday.
