MILWAUKEE – It wasn't the two doubles that Dan Uggla had in Tuesday's win against the Brewers as much as the number of balls he hit hard in the first two games, after doing the same throughout spring training.
Those were reasons teammates and Braves officials were so optimistic by what they’ve seen from the veteran second baseman, who’s trying to stop a trend after consecutive and much-chronicled career-worst seasons.
“He came in with a plan and he’s been executing that plan, pretty much plain and simple,” Braves right fielder Jason Heyward said. “He’s keeping it simple. Having fun, working hard, enjoying that.”
Uggla was 2-for-8 with no strikeouts in two games before Wednesday’s series finale against the Brewers, when he went 0-for-3 with a strikeout on a day the Braves had nine strikeouts and only three hits but still won 1-0 to take the series.
In his first two games, Uggla hit the ball hard in all but one of his first eight plate appearances, the exception on a grounder when fooled on a curveball.
In the season opener Monday, he hit a long fly ball to the right-field corner in his first at-bat, lined out to left his next time up, then flied out to deep center his third at-bat.
On Tuesday, he doubled to left-center with a runner at first and two out in the fourth inning and doubled to center to start the ninth, when he scored the final run in the Braves’ 5-2 win.
“We’re extremely encouraged by Danny,” said Braves hitting coach Greg Walker, a straight shooter who doesn’t lavish undue praise or mince words when a player is not performing. “He’s got a real good routine now that he does every day. He doesn’t deviate from the plan. He knows what he wants to do, and the cool thing is, I think he’s gaining confidence. I think he’s really feeling it.”
Uggla has been feeling it since the offseason, when he spent a lot of hours working out with teammate Freddie Freeman, as they’ve done before, but also going over video of his swing during Uggla’s years with the Marlins. That was back when he was one of the best-hitting second basemen in the majors, averaging nearly 31 homers and 93 RBIs while batting .263 with a .349 OBP over five seasons through 2010.
He’s hit .213 with a .323 OBP since being traded to the Braves before the 2011 season, totaled 41 homers over the past two seasons, and bottomed out in 2013 with a .179 average, .309 OBP and franchise-record 171 strikeouts in 448 at-bats. He didn’t hit is first double until his 19th game of the season, after he’d already collected 23 strikeouts.
He worked this winter and spring to correct his balance and keep his weight back, so he wouldn’t be caught swinging from his front foot.
“It’s definitely what I anticipated, or hoped for, or worked for,” he said of results so far. “After working toward some things this spring, it’s nice to come out here and gradually keep the process going. Just going to continue to work in that direction.”
At spring training Uggla hit .269 (14-for-52) with four homers, a team-high 14 RBIs and a .403 OBP.
“We had a day (against) Houston in spring training,” Walker said. “He pulled a ball for a homer. Then the next time up, he shot a triple to right-center. And we had seen it in spurts here and there – his work’s been fantastic; the first day of flips (hitting flipped balls at spring training) I said, oh my God, that’s perfect. And he’s been as good in his pregame work as anybody I’ve ever coached, as far as consistency. I mean, it’s just every day. And he’s worked hard, he’s worked smart, he’s a competitor.
“I told him early on, that looks like Dan Uggla to me. He’s staying square longer, he’s … he’s just really good right now. That’s who he was before. He just got into some bad habits. And I tip my hat to him. I tell you what, what he’s done so far – and I know we’re just two games into it, but we’ve been saying this all of spring training too.”
Uggla knew there would still be loads of skeptics no matter what he did during spring training. And that there still will be many not convinced he’s turned a corner unless and until he does it for weeks or months, not a series or two.
The criticism is only magnified because of two years he has remaining on a five-year, $62 million contract. He understands that. But he doesn’t seem to be playing with a chip on his shoulder, not full of bitterness and trying to prove the doubters wrong. He just wants to get back to being the hitter he was and help the team win.
He knows his teammates have had his back all along, even if so many others believe he’s 34 and done as a good hitter.
“When you have a bad year, people forget real fast what you’ve done in your career,” he said. “In my career I’ve been pretty good. It’s not like I was never good before. So it’s one of those things that you work for, you remember the feeling, and it’s a good feeling.”
