Scouting Reports on B.J. Upton Spread Quickly

Funny how this works:

In case you are unfamiliar with the wFB/C metric, it's best described as a results-based metric per 100 pitches of that type. So, a -1.85 value means Upton accumulated -1.85 runs over 100 fastballs. That's not very good. A 10.69 value means he's blasting every fastball thrown his way. You can find this metric on FanGraphs.

The most interesting thing I take away, besides that Upton is making those who throw him fastballs pay now, is just how quickly the strategy is shifting. We've talked about this a lot, pitchers were going go throw him fastballs until he hit them for power. He's starting to, and just like that guys are now throwing less. We're what, seven days into the month and the philosophy for how to get Upton out has shifted dramatically.

Obviously there's a bit of a small sample size issue here, which is why I included the last 30 days to show that this is not a relatively new development. B.J. is starting to hit fastballs and hit them well. Over that same time-frame his .362 wOBA is higher than Evan Longoria while their strikeout percentages are just about equal. Upton's offensive game is on the way up. Let's just hope teams like the Angels and Nationals are slow to adjust.

Whore note: I wrote about B.J.'s defense along with the insanely talented Justin Upton's improved defense on FanGraphs this morning.