The Battle of the Uptons Finally Begins

Since Opening Day, all I’ve been able to talk about is when B.J. Upton is going to show up to play and not get overshadowed by baby brother Justin Upton. Last night against the Chicago Cubs, it finally happened.

March 26, 2013; Lakeland, FL, USA; Atlanta Braves left fielder Justin Upton (8) and center fielder B.J. Upton (2) work out prior to the game against the Detroit Tigers at Joker Marchant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

B.J. was 0 for 14 coming into last night’s game while Justin was 4 for 13 with 3 homeruns. In the bottom of the ninth inning last night, B.J. got his second hit of the day and season. A homerun just over left-center that gave the Braves the tying run. Then, just two batters later, Justin proves to big brother that he can do it too, getting his second homerun of the night in walk-off fashion.

To say that last night will be the only time we see the brothers battling it out would be an understatement. This is the kind of excitement I hoped for when Justin got traded. I wanna see that “I can do better than that” attitude that you see in two brothers. Now that B.J. has finally found his footing in Atlanta, we might be seeing a lot more of it.

Big things are expected of both Uptons this year, but especially for Justin after the way he’s started. Everyone is hoping he breaks forty homeruns for the first time in his career while hopefully finishing with an average above .300, something that he’s never done. Justin’s highest average was a .300 exactly back in 2009. However, he’s proved himself worthy of the trade so far this season.

As for B.J., he was a bit of a late bloomer last season as well, so there’s nothing unexpected in his performance so far this season. He hit 21 of his 28 homeruns in the second-half of the 2012 season. However, there were questions about his focus on and off the field. Although, I’d assume his focus is pretty well centered on baseball right now given his poor start and the way that Justin had showed him up to start the first week of play. B.J. wants to bounce back from the slouch he had in opening week and did it in tremendous fashion last night. As a Braves fan and someone who has both Uptons on my fantasy team, I look forward to this back and forth for months to come.