Atlanta Braves B.J. Upton STILL in lineup!
By Ryan Cothran
Someone’s stubbornness is really TICKING ME OFF!
Emilio Bonifacio, who was acquired at the trade deadline along with James Russell, has hit left-handed pitching to the tune of a .985 OPS. B.J. Upton has a .522 OPS against LHP for the year. Seems like an easy call, right? Start Boni and bench B.J., too easy? Wrong.
Strike one.
OK, so surely Fredi will bench B.J. in favor of Phil Gosselin in left field, Jason Heyward shifting to center field, and Justin Upton moving over to right field, leaving Tommy La Stella to play 2nd base, right? I mean, Phil has been hot and hit north of a 1.000 OPS at Gwinnett against LHP and La Stella has a near .900 OPS for the season against LHP. Surely if he doesn’t do the first, Fredi would choose this option, right? Wrong.
Strike two.
OK…OK…so what about Ryan Doumit? Fredi always looks at the matchup and talks about players who have found success against certain pitchers and Doumit has hit Jon Lester well in a small sample. Surely, he’ll give him a shot, right? Right? RIGHT?! Wrong.
Strike three. Fredi’s out. Or is it even Fredi to blame?
Don’t look for reasoning behind this move. While B.J. has seen Lester the most, he most definitely does not have a track record of success against him, recording a .603 OPS in 58 at-bats.
I’m finally to my Breaking Point with the Atlanta Braves Front Office, or Manager, whomever is pulling the strings…
B.J. Upton isn’t doing his job effectively, that’s obvious. However, it’s become just as obvious that either the General Manager, or the Manager, isn’t doing his job effectively anymore. Change is needed and if it isn’t B.J. sitting for superior players, then here’s to looking up in the suites, or down on the dugout steps.