Even with the trade-deadline acquisition of Emilio Bonifacio, Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez has elected to keep B.J. Upton in the leadoff spot.
Braves leadoff hitters have a major league-worst .237 batting average. They also rank 25th with a .312 on-base percentage. Upton has hit .228 (33-for-145) from leadoff spot with 10 extra-base hits (two homers), 12 walks, 49 strikeouts, .291 OBP and .338 slugging percentage. One of the homers came in Friday’s win over the Nationals. The only other spots where Upton has more than three at-bats this season are No. 2 (.207 average, .282 on-base percentage and .330 slugging percentage in 227 at-bats) and No. 6 (.171 average, .227 on-base percentage and .317 slugging percentage in 41 at-bats).
“Going back to the comfort where he has done well,” Gonzalez said of Upton. “He has done well since we’ve done it (more than any other spot in the lineup). … You look at the numbers and he has been productive there. You always try to put guys in position where they are going to be productive. That’s what I do.”
Jason Heyward hit .254 in 276 at-bats in leadoff spot, with 19 extra-base hits (eight homers), .334 OBP and a .384 slugging percentage. In the No. 5 spot, Heyward has hit .309 (43-for-139) with 12 extra-base hits (one homer), .407 OBP and .424 slugging percentage.
Six other Braves have hit leadoff. However, only Tommy La Stella has as many as 20 at-bats. He was 2-for-20 with two walks and two strikeouts.
Bonifacio hit .280 (78-for-279) in the leadoff spot with 19 extra-base hits, a .316 OBP and a .373 slugging percentage, including 270 leadoff at-bats with the Cubs. He hit almost exclusively in the leadoff spot with the Cubs, and had only 10 official at-bats at other spots before Saturday, when he hit eighth for the Braves.
