Struggling Uggla out of lineup vs. Santana
Vivlamore reporting from Turner Field.
Dan Uggla was out of the Braves lineup Sunday – and Mets starter Johan Santana was the reason.
Uggla is hitting .048 (1-for-21) with 12 strikeouts in his career against Santana. His one hit was a home run.
Matt Diaz, by stark contrast, is hitting .514 (18-for-35) in his career against the Mets ace. Diaz was in left field and Martin Prado moved to second base in place of Uggla.
“We have got to try to play [Diaz],” Gonzalez said. “He has really, really good numbers against Santana. I mean really good numbers. Numbers you can’t ignore.”
Uggla has missed only one other game this season. He has struggled at the plate of late, hitting .119 (12-for-101) in his last 31 games, following a four-hit, two-home run game against the Marlins on June 5th.
- Chris Vivlamore
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25 comments Add your comment
Sid Slid
July 15th, 2012
1:11 pm
Thanks, Chris. What about the rest of the line-up?
Who Me?
July 15th, 2012
1:13 pm
Let’s hope Janisch (sp?) is batting 8th. Certainly not going to light fear in the opposing teams we face, let’s hope his glovework is solid. Get well soon Andrelton!
Sid Slid
July 15th, 2012
1:16 pm
Just heard on the radio pre-game show that Todd Redmond was playing a Cincinnati minor league team when the trade went down, so he just walked over to the other clubhouse. Janish said he was doing a crossword puzzle when he got the info.
Who Me?
July 15th, 2012
1:17 pm
@Sid, that’s hilarious. Wish him well, too bad he couldn’t crack the staff here. Hey Chris, can we get today’s lineup please?
Sid Slid
July 15th, 2012
1:20 pm
Okay, line-up’s on the newer new thread. lol.
ijudgenot
July 15th, 2012
1:26 pm
This has nothing to do with Santana and everything to do with Uggla’s stubbornness to not swing for the left field fences with every swing. The Braves always have to give these lame excuses of why a player is not playing instead of telling the truth that Uggla has been stinking up the joint for half the season. The placement of Prado back at second though is huge. Wren resisted doing that all last year even when Uggla was stinking up the place for the first half. This may mean that a trade maybe in Wren’s mind. A trade that would involve Uggla and a second tier prospect for Upton would solve the Braves left field and power righthand hitter problem and permanently put Prado at his natural position second base. Come on Wren pull the trigger on a deal like that and get the Braves back to divisional championship level.
herdadreh
July 15th, 2012
1:59 pm
ijudgenot, nothing to do with Santana? If diaz were 8-35 against today’s pitcher instead of 18-35, would Uggla still be sitting?
No doubt Uggla has been underperforming his career (Marlin) stats while a Brave. He is still 6th among regular MLB 2Bmen in OPS for this year. His OBP is respectable and his bat has run into enough pitches to deposit 12 over the wall. Is he worth the money, probably not. Is he worth the starting spot, probably. Is he likely to learn to do something different from a day or two benching, unlikely. I would be, however, for a move such as you suggested – Uggla plus minor player(s) for Upton.
1991 braves
July 15th, 2012
2:35 pm
If Wren had a brain, which he doesn’t, he would dump this free swinger and take his losses. This guy swings for the fence on every pitch, and he is a second baseman. If the braves had a hitting coach, he would tell this idiot to stop swinging for a damn homerun every swing, but it is what it is. The braves have no hitting coach, and this idiot will never shorten his swing to just get a hit instead of a homer. The reason this clown has so many strikeouts for a second baseman is so obvious. And the reason this clown has some many long periods of hitting under .200 is so obvious. The guy is not a power hitter, but one day he will figure this out, hopefully that want be in a braves uniform. Wren, if you have any common sense, or more than that, if you have any baseball sense, get rid of this clown. But when you have Wren and Uggla, you have nothing. That pretty much sums up the braves franchise. NOTHING!!!!
tj
July 15th, 2012
2:46 pm
Geez, ijudgenot and 1991 braves, can you at least try and write something that has some common sense to it. What a bunch of idiotic B/S.
Jaime
July 15th, 2012
3:24 pm
Is Uggla going to begin his whinning act once again? Rumors are that if he spent as much time in the batting cage instead of chasing tail at night, he just may break out of his slump!
birdo
July 15th, 2012
3:34 pm
Have heard the same thing, Uggla out running the town. How committed is he?
john
July 15th, 2012
4:36 pm
I think Uggla is hitting.048 against EVERYONE….another terrible aquisition….two years and he’s still a bust.
bruce
July 15th, 2012
4:51 pm
Marteeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeen
might be the best all around baseball player in all of MLB.
Bill Martin
July 15th, 2012
5:11 pm
I refer to Uglla as ugly Uggla because he does not know how to swing a bat and the Braves
hitting coach could not coach little leaque players. One other about the braves, I
cannot understand why so many of them are just about looking at first pitches when they are right across the plate
Chattmatt
July 15th, 2012
5:13 pm
Sitting here on 7-15-12 would any of you trade Uggla for Infante.I know hindsight is 20/20 but this dude flat out cant hit.Yea he runs hard and plays hard but he cant hit out of a wet paper bag.
Whiskey River
July 15th, 2012
5:36 pm
We dont need Infante. Bench Uggla. We win without him.
Bravesfan88
July 15th, 2012
6:03 pm
I like the idea of uggla for uptown but I don’t think the diamond backs need a 2B. The braves better not trade Prado he is one of the main reasons the braves are where they are now. Bench uggla and keep prado at second. Had no drop in production with uggla out in today’s sweep.
Buzz 2011
July 15th, 2012
6:03 pm
He needs to sit until sometime in 2013..
Whiskey River
July 15th, 2012
6:16 pm
How about sit forever.We dont need UPTON. He sucks. If you get anybody go for Bloomquist. Do not trade prado.
SOS Braves
July 15th, 2012
6:27 pm
Dump the Dip*hit Uggla.
Pale Rider
July 15th, 2012
6:34 pm
Enter your comments here
Pale Rider
July 15th, 2012
6:44 pm
SmUggla is the primary weakness in the line-up. Trade away his last three years of an insane contract (thanks Freddie) and get some more pitching. Chipper’s open salary next year allows you do this within the Liberty Media baseball budget.
Bourne (CF)
Prado (LF)
McCann (C)
Simmons (SS)
Trade for New 3B
Freeman (1B)
Heyward (RF)
Rookie or Farm 2B
Total Add- 4 players (Two Starting Pitchers, 2B & 3B)
CRMAC300
July 16th, 2012
8:52 am
Agree with the comments about Uggla. Can’t drive in runs from third base with less than two outs with strikeout. Can’t move runners up with strikeout. Uggla has no concept of team baseball when batting. First I had heard about late night activity, might be contributing. I think Uggla is sulking batting down in the line up. He still thinks he should be hitting 4th. Great start for Sheets! Have to be optimistic about his potential but still curious why there was no interest in him by other teams. Is there something they are not telling us about him? Are they expecting that right arm to blow up again? Justin Upton has the tools but he may be a head case like his brother. Wouldn’t give up too much for him. With Sheets, the starting rotation looks ok now, especially if the offense keeps producing 6+ runs per game. I think the Braves will win the eastern division now. Looking at the schedule for the rest of the season, most of it against Phils, Mets, Marlins, with series against San Diego and Houston, all bad teams. Lots of winnable games. Don’t need a panic trade, remember Texiera!
RunninWithTheDawgs
July 17th, 2012
5:24 pm
To be rated as high as he is, he sure does have a lot of batting slumps that just go on and on. No matter what a player has done in the past or how high he’s rated there comes a time he has to warm the bench if he’s not producing. Kinda reminds me of our good friend Matty Ice !
Benjamin
July 31st, 2012
2:02 am
The Braves are a better team with Uggla on the bench. They’d be even better if they could trade him back to the Marlins.