Justin Upton became the fastest Brave in franchise history to reach nine home runs Thursday, and he did it in his 15th game as a Brave. Pretty good first impression.
For Upton, though, he doesn’t feel all the different than his 2011 season with Arizona when he hit his ninth home run on May 18 on his way to an MVP-caliber season. Ironically, his ninth homer came against the Braves and off Julio Teheran, the pitcher he supported with his fifth inning shot Thursday night.
Upton hit 31 home runs in 2011 and finished fourth in National League MVP voting.
“I’ve gotten hot to where I’m getting hits,” Upton said. “I’ve gotten homer-hot before. Everybody hits these streaks. I’ve just done it to the (extreme) right now. I feel like I played just as good two years ago.”
Part of what has made this start unique for Upton, though, is the work he’s doing with Braves hitting coach Greg Walker. He said he’s thrived with Walker encouraging his aggressive approach.
“We’re not worried about working pitch counts and drawing walks, we’re worried about getting a good pitch to hit and trying to handle it,” Upton said. “We’ve hit it off pretty good, me and Greg Walker, so I think the philosophy is everybody is at the big league level for a reason. Let’s work with what got you here.”
Before Thursday, Chipper Jones and Dale Murphy had been tied for the fastest to nine home runs doing it in 17 games, Jones in 1998 and Murphy in 1985. Hall-of-Famer Eddie Mathews hit nine in 18 games in 1959.
As eye-popping as the numbers are for Upton, who was leading the majors entering Friday, two ahead of Colorado’s Dexter Fowler (7), manager Fredi Gonzalez has been just as impressed with what he’s seen off the field.
“I’ve gotten to know him now for two months and I really appreciate the young man,” Gonzalez said. “This guy has got some intensity. He’s got some baseball savvy. You can talk to him about the game. He knows it. He’s sharp.”
