The Braves scratched Justin Upton from Tuesday’s lineup against the Mets with an upper back strain, which tightened up on him as he took some swings in the indoor cages before batting practice.
Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said it was a sore trapezius muscle and with a night’s rest and more treatment didn’t rule out a possible return to the lineup for Upton on Wednesday.
“Maybe tomorrow he’ll wake up feeling a little better and hopefully we’ll get him in there,” Gonzalez said.
Upton was in the Braves original lineup but wasn’t able to get loose enough to even take batting practice. Evan Gattis replaced him in left field and Gonzalez moved Andrelton Simmons up to bat second.
“Just swinging in the cage and it just tightened up,” Upton said. “You get muscle tightness things lock up, give it a little bit of time and it’ll work itself out. Hopefully it feels better tomorrow.”…
Dan Uggla took batting practice Tuesday in New York for the first time since undergoing laser eye surgery on Friday. He and Reed Johnson hit early on the field before both teams took batting practice. “I felt good,” Uggla said. “I didn’t really have a whole lot of difference.” Uggla said he noticed the biggest difference the day after surgery when a vision test revealed he was back to 20/15.
The Braves probably won’t take batting practice Wednesday with an early game in New York so he’ll likely hit again in St. Louis. Gonzalez said Uggla will likely go back to Atlanta to be cleared by his eye doctors before heading back out on a minor league rehabilitation assignment. He’s eligible to come off the disabled list Aug. 28, next Wednesday against the Indians.
Johnson, meanwhile, is still having problems running because of his Achilles tendinitis. He tried to do some light jogging last week and still had problems, so he’s just continuing to take batting practice and hoping he sees improvement before long. The Braves are still hopeful he can return before the season is out.
“It’s not ready yet,” Johnson said. “It’s going to be a little bit I think.”
