Talk about a good first impression. Two newcomers to the Braves roster just took home monthly awards Thursday when Justin Upton was named National League player of the month and Evan Gattis was named National League rookie of the month.
Upton has welcomed himself to a new team by hitting a franchise record 12 home runs in the month of April, two shy of the major league record of 14 hit by Albert Pujols (2006) and Alex Rodriguez (2007). He was three shy of Joe Adcock’s franchise record for a month when he hit 15 homers in July of 1956.
He’s made the transition look easy, compared to what players like Albert Pujols, Josh Hamilton and even his brother B.J. Upton have gone through.
“I didn’t change leagues, that’s the first thing.,” said Upton, who came via trade from Arizona while B.J. was signed as a free agent from Tampa. “I’ve seen a lot of these guys before. I’m seeing more of the pitching in the NL East now. It’s been a pretty smooth transition for me. I’ve enjoyed the new team, new surroundings. It’s a great group of guys.”
Upton led the major leagues with a .734 slugging percentage in April, while hitting .298 (28-for-94) with 22 runs, 19 RBIs and a .402 on-base percentage in 26 games. This was his second player of the month award; Upton won it in May of 2009 with Arizona.
He was the fastest Brave to reach 10 home runs, getting there in 19 games while Dale Murphy reached 10 in 20 games in 1985. He was only the 18th player in major league history to reach 10 home runs before his team had played 20 games. Upton, at 25, was the second youngest of that group to do it behind Mickey Mantle, who was 24 when he hit 10 homers in 19 games for the 1956 Yankees.
Gattis, the former 23rd round draft choice, wasn’t even sure he’d make the Braves roster out of spring training and now he’s won rookie of the month in his first month in the majors.
“I didn’t really even know there was one,” said Gattis, who was told about the award just before the Braves took the field for batting practice Thursday. “Definitely honored and definitely happy about it. And excited.”
Gattis homered in his first major league game, his first pinch hit at-bat and his first game against Stephen Strasburg. He assured the Braves of a series win over their rival Nationals on April 13 with a game-winning two run shot.
“My first home run was big for me, that was cool,” said Gattis, who homered off Roy Halladay and the Phillies in his first start April 3. “Reed (Johnson) when I came in said ‘That’ll take the pressure off.’ Just getting that out of the way. Having some success early on has helped.”
Gattis finished the month with six home runs, when no other major league rookie has more than three. He has 16 RBIs when no other major league rookie has more than 10. He’s tied for third in the majors with five game-winning RBIs, behind Angel Pagan and Brandon Phillips, each of whom have six.
