A day after benching all three of his struggling regulars for the first time all season, Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez had both Jason Heyward and Dan Uggla back in the lineup Friday night against the Nationals.
Part of that had to do with the fact that both Heyward (7-for-14) and Uggla (11-for-23) hit Stephen Strasburg well. But of those three every-day 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 anyway. 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 on 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.”
