The Upton brothers reported to spring training Sunday, which meant it was time for the curious to view B.J. Upton’s swing and see whether he’d made significant changes since a career-worst 2013 season.
It didn’t take long to see that yes, he has. The center fielder has junked a lot of the moving parts he had in last year’s swing, including a foot-tap timing mechanism, pronounced front leg lift, and excessive head and bat movement.
“He’s a lot more efficient,” said Braves hitting coach Greg Walker.
Walker watched Upton swing Sunday against a coach pitching from the mound, after watching him use the same streamlined swing to hit balls flipped to him in the batting cage a few weeks ago when Walker visited him in Tampa to check up on his offseason progress.
In the first season of his five-year, $75.25 million free-agent contract with the Braves, the 29-year-old hit .184 – more than 70 points below his previous career average – with just nine homers and 12 stolen bases in 126 games. Upton had a .268 OBP and a .289 slugging percentage that was 133 points below his previous career average.
Manager Fredi Gonzalez said the Braves’ message to Upton and Dan Uggla, who also had a career-worst season, was that 2013 is over and it’s time to start with a clean slate.
All but Andrelton: Shortstop Andrelton Simmons was the only lineup regular not in camp by Sunday morning. The Braves' official reporting date for non-catcher position players is Tuesday and first full-squad workout Wednesday.
They open the Grapefruit League season Feb. 26 against Detroit at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports.
“I got to spend a little time in the outfield with both (Uptons),” Gonzalez said. “Their spirits are good; I wouldn’t expect anything else…. It’s nice to see all the guys coming. Simmons texted me last night and told me he’d be here in a couple of days. He just got back into the country, flew to Atlanta. He was apologizing for not being here; I said don’t worry about it, you’re not late or anything.”
Gonzalez said Simmons had to take care of some things in Atlanta but would be at camp by reporting day.
Last year in his first full season in the majors, Simmons won both a Rawlings Gold Glove as the National League’s best defensive shortstop and Platinum Glove as the league’s best overall defensive player. He hit just .248 with a .296 OBP, but among NL shortstops Simmons ranked first in WAR (6.7) and fourth in home runs (17) and RBIs (59).
He could be the next of the Braves’ core group of young players signed to a long-term contract, either this year or next. Simmons, 24, is not yet eligible for arbitration, but might be next winter as a “Super 2” player if he’s among the 17 percent with the most service time below three years.
