Upton was interviewed in the post game yesterday and was asked what his approach was in his last couple at bats. About the home run at bat he said something like “I was trying to work him deep in the count and then I got a good pitch”. About his last at bat in the 10th he said “I just had to put the ball in play. I knew I couldn’t strike out.” He walked in that at bat.

Upton’s approach is simply amazing.

I just don’t see nearly as much BJ Upton hate as you see. There is surely some, but it isn’t that extreme.

One thing that comes immediately to mind was an exchange between Duemig and a caller. I believe it was last Tuesday.

Basically the caller was straight out calling BJ out. Essentially he was calling him one of the “three amigos” along with Delmon and Elijah and that BJ had to go. Also that BJ was a cancer and was “rubbing off” on CC. Duemig basically agreed. But then again they are idiots that do not know what they are talking about.

I know I sort of contradicted myself by saying that there isn’t much BJ hate and then giving a pretty exact example of such hate. However, I just don’t think it is that extreme or that profound to really worry about it.

I’ve been a bit frustrated with BJ lately, but it has nothing to do with heart, hussle, or even leadership. He just hasn’t been swinging the bat well. He knows it just as well as everyone should know it. His two XBH yesterday to the left side were very encouraging in that respect.

Upton occassionally looks pretty lost in center, but this can easily be explained by his relative newness to the position. Also these mistakes are fairly irrelevant in the grand scheme of things since they are so few and far between. The problem is they just look really bad and they stick out in the average fans mind. And unfortunately the average fan in Tampa Bay isn’t very smart.

Upton has taken a few plays off. But again nearly every player does that. Aki has done it (see Uptons lazy fly ball that dropped a week ago), CC does it all the time (see scoring on 1st from a single). It is just very difficult for a player to play at 100% effort every play in every game. Especially in the pros where nearly every pop up is caught or every basic ground ball is an easy out. It is just human nature to assume. Very few players have the mental toughness to be able to play 100% all the time.

The post is important because when nonsense about Upton’s play gets repeated over and over without contradiction-or should I say meaningful contradiction-it attains the status of FACT. Like the 3 Amigos nonsense which actually was a perversion of the reality. At least now there is a source to focus the honest appraisal.

He truly learns the position. Once this happens he will stop making plays that “look” bad. On defense people usually just remember the plays you screw up and not the plays you make. Especially when you make them as effortlessly as Upton.

And once we get a real right fielder. Uptons inexperience combined with a generally crappy RFer has caused a few gaffes that have looked very poor to the average fan.

As a response to the “BJ doesn’t hit the ball well” comment I decided to do a very quick and crude analysis.

Aki leads the team with 432 at bats. I used at bats for this since it removes non-contact plays and then did AB-SO to achieve plate appearances where contact was made. I used CC as the base since he leads the team in that category with 371 and then normalized all other player stats by multiplying by (371/(AB-SO)). I used that multiplier to normalize the counting stats.

Evan Longoria is the best hitter when making contact. He’d be second on the team in singles, doubles, 4th in triples, 3rd in HRs, 1st in TBs.

Upton’s ranks would be as follows:

1B: 5th
2B: 2nd
3B: 5th
HR: 4th
TB: 5th

So is BJ Upton bad when he makes contact? Not at all. He’s better than CC and Aki in every category but singles and triples.

Of course this is pointless since it assumes the players would have the same production while reducing their K-rates, but it does show what happens when they make contact and swing at the same rate as CC.

He deserves it.

that makes him super cool in my book

AM talk radio is normally home to one type of american. Right wing nut jobs. So it isn’t suprising when you hear guys like duemig use key words like “lazy” when referring to Upton. It’s tounge in check racism. You hear the same type of key words on rush limbaugh, hanity, and bill oriley when they refer to obama. It’s all tounge in check racism with no basis in facts. It’s intellectual dishonesty at it’s finest.

what i am trying to say is that i think bossman is might not be putting up the same power numbers of the players of his age group and talent level, but in the long run bj has an advantage over them that he isnt just swinging for the fences and draws alot of walks and most times advances to 2nd on those by stealing 2nd, so those walks that he is getting most times turns into doubles

I just don’t trust Upton. Or Crawford. Or Floyd. Or Jackson. Or Aybar, wait, is Aybar black?

as a hitter and a center fielder, but I fail to see the need to put the guy on a pedestal. I like him, and feel he is a victim of a struggling lineup. He’s being asked to do too much and sometimes I think we forget he is only in his 2nd full year. I’d like him a lot more as a lead off hitter, or perhaps somewhere down the lineup. Certainly not in the middle of the order though.

What I would really like to know is what happened between this year and last. His batting avg difference can pretty much be explained by BABIP. But what about the power? And that’s what I find frustrating. His performance last year suggested we had a legit middle of the order hitter in Upton. Now, not so much.