TORONTO — B.J. Upton was out of the lineup for the second consecutive day as the Braves center fielder's swing-correction project continued. He said he's confident better things are ahead, sooner than later.
“It’s an easy fix; it won’t take long,” said Upton, who is working with hitting coach Greg Walker and assistant Scott Fletcher to eliminate the excessive “load” portion of his complex swing, the part where he leans back before coming forward.
The flaw has caused him to be “chronically late” on fastballs all season, Walker said. The pitch arrives before he’s straightened his posture, and Upton ends up leaning back, swinging upward and usually beneath the ball.
He has a majors-worst .148 with four homers, eight RBIs, 16 walks and 60 strikeouts in 155 at-bats, for a .236 on-base percentage and .252 slugging percentage. In his last 25 games, he was 11-for-80 (.138) with one homer and 34 strikeouts.
Instead of completely revamping his swing in midseason to try to get Upton back to the simpler style he used five years ago, the Braves and Upton agreed he would make a smaller but significant adjustment for now by eliminating most of the load mechanism.
“Just giving him two days to work on his stuff,” manager Fredi Gonzalez said after posting the lineup Tuesday. “I talked to B.J. about it — it’s easier to do it in American League game (interleague play in AL city, where the designated hitter is used).”
The Braves also planned to go back to a conventional seven-man bullpen after the trip that ended Tuesday. They’ve used six relievers recently, which gave them an extra position player on the bench. One of those players will be moved from the 25-man roster to make room for another reliever, probably Wednesday or Thursday.
Jordan Walden, who pitched in a Triple-A game Monday, could be ready to come off the disabled list.
Between having the extra position player and not needing to pinch-hit for pitchers at Toronto, Gonzalez said the two-game series Monday and Tuesday was the perfect time for Upton to focus on his swing and not worry about playing.
“And he looked really good working on it in (batting practice),” Gonzalez said.
Upton said he doesn’t know how his swing evolved from the clean form he had in the past to something with so many moving parts.
“I have no idea,” he said. “Just kind of a bad habit that developed. That happens in the game, man. Nothing you can do but just keep going, man. It’s not the first time I struggled, won’t be the last time. Just keep working. My thing is, just don’t give up. As long as I do that, I’ll come out of it.
“There’s still time left. I’ll get it turned around.”
J-Up also on bench: The Braves fielded an Upton-less lineup for only the second time all season, with Justin Upton getting a rest in Wednesday's early afternnon series finale in the Rogers Centre dome.
“Yeah, 12:30 game, turf – I feel like sometimes we play him too much,” Gonzalez said.
Still the NL leader with 14 homers before Tuesday, Upton was 6-for-32 (.188) with one RBI and 14 strikeouts in his past eight games.
In place of the Uptons, Reed Johnson started in left field and Jordan Schafer in center field.
The other time the Braves started neither Upton was May 8, in a 7-2 win in a series finale at Cincinnati.
