B.J. Upton's Day at the Plate

by R.J. Anderson on May 9, 2009 8:40 PM EDT

Let's go through each of Upton's plate appearances today.

1^st inning, versus Jon Lester

0-0 94.6 MPH fastball. Just to the right of the plate, called strike.

0-1 95.4 MPH fastball. Almost dead center, Upton pops it up into right field.

3^rd inning, versus Jon Lester

0-0 93 MPH fastball up and in, fouled off.

0-1 94.7 MPH fastball over the middle, fouled off.

0-2 79 MPH slider down and outside of the zone by a good five inches.

1-2 94.6 MPH fastball, a touch high, but not high enough to take, grounded out to the shortstop.

5^th inning, versus Jon Lester

0-0 93.2 MPH fastball up and over the middle, bunted towards third.

6^th inning, versus Hunter Jones

0-0 87.7 MPH fastball called strike to the left of the plate.

0-1 87.5 MPH fastball called a ball down and in.

1-1 77.6 MPH slider down called a ball.

2-1 74.8 MPH slider called strike up and slightly in.

2-2 88.4 MPH singled to left field inside all the way and turned on into left.

7^th inning, versus Javier Lopez

0-0 88 MPH fastball a bit to the left of the plate, fouled off.

0-1 89 MPH fastball down and a bit in, although looks like B.J. gets the benefit of the doubt here.

1-1 80 MPH change away, B.J. swings through.

1-2 91.1 MPH fastball down and in, again Upton gets the call.

2-2 79.8 MPH change down and in, Upton gets the call, ball three.

3-2 88.3 MPH fastball down and in, this is the first called ball that was actually a ball.

9^th inning, versus Manny Delcarmen

0-0 77.6 MPH curve called strike on the lower part of the zone and a bit in.

0-1 95.4 MPH fastball fouled off from over the middle of the plate.

0-2 95.7 MPH fastball far outside.

1-2 82 MPH change, foul tipped, similar in location to pitch one, only a bit more to the center.

So that's Upton's day. Six plate appearances, two hits, a walk, one strikeout, 22 pitches seen, zero pitches outside of the strikezone swung at, and five first pitch fastballs. The most telling thing to take from this is that yeah, teams are going to challenge Upton with fastballs and then they're going to try and catch him sitting on a hard one while they counter with a change-up or a curve or something that bends and breaks. B.J did a nice job of responding today, let's see how he does against Josh Beckett's heat and bend attack tomorrow.

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Comments

Is it better to swing at pitches slightly out of the strikezone or take pitches in it.

Especially with two strikes?

I like the approach, but he’s taking some awfully close pitches with two strikes that appear to be hittable.

by tallyray on May 9, 2009 9:00 PM EDT reply actions

i don't think it's ever a good idea to swing at pitches outside the strikezone.

by walkoffwalk on May 9, 2009 9:52 PM EDT up reply actions

That's the easy answer...

But if you’re taking borderline pitches constantly, you are going to get a whole lot of called strikes.

by tallyray on May 10, 2009 10:05 AM EDT up reply actions

I would imagine pitches that are right on the edge it would be better to foul off

especially with 2 strikes.

I could be wrong though

by staplemaniac on May 10, 2009 10:29 AM EDT up reply actions

Which would lead to swinging at more pitches out of the strikezone...

I don’t see it as an awful thing to do as long as you don’t go Delmon Young crazy.

by tallyray on May 10, 2009 4:35 PM EDT up reply actions

Kevin Youkilis traded in some walks for extra power.

Doesn’t work for everyone, but yeah, you don’t have to be Albert Pujols efficient all the time.

by R.J. Anderson on May 10, 2009 5:13 PM EDT up reply actions

B.J Upton

is getting attention these days!!! That slump must be worse than i thought

"Yeah, I am not the old annoying guy next door. Heck, I don't even know who i am"

by 4QB on May 9, 2009 9:30 PM EDT reply actions

Here is the problem

Umpires call pitches strikes when they are slightly outside the zone. That is just the way it is. That strike zone is not what it is in the rule book. BJ has to adjust to the real zone that is actually being called.

by matthan on May 10, 2009 1:13 PM EDT reply actions

It's not just that.

I’m almost certain now that BJ hasn’t fully recovered from his labrum surgery. The muscle has healed but his strength and conditioning are still well behind where he’d be if he was fully healthy. I did some research; it takes 3-6 months after the surgery for the muscle to recover sufficiently before you can start lifting light weights, and 6-12 before your strength fully recovers, and that’s doing regular weightlifting.

Using that timetable, considering that Upton had his surgery in November, based on those numbers, his strength should be beginning to return right around now, but he might not be full strength all year long. We may not see 2007 BJ Upton until 2010.

"Where we all wait in earnest with pudding in hand for the Upton comet to sail through the roofed skies, so that we may meet Him."

by kericr on May 10, 2009 2:42 PM EDT up reply actions