For a slump like Uggla’s, waiting (and hoping) is the only cure
The most recent of Dan Uggla's 15 RBIs. (AJC photo by Curtis Compton)
On May 25, 2004, Derek Jeter was hitting .189. He would finish the season at .292. He would hit .300 or better in each of the next five seasons. Today he’s 25 hits from No. 3,000.
On May 23, 2011, Dan Uggla is hitting .185. Braves fans have been in a dither over Uggla, who was imported from Florida and then re-upped for $62 million over five years, since April, but Aprils can deceive. Besides, Uggla never hits in April.
Now, however, we’re a week from Memorial Day, the first checkpoint of the baseball season, and Uggla was actually better in April, when he hit .194, than he has been in May. On Friday, Uggla was bumped up to second in the Braves’ batting order for the first time this season. (Manager Fredi Gonzalez justified by the change by quoting the loose definition of insanity: “Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.”)
Uggla went 0-for-3 that night. On Saturday he batted sixth, also for the first time this season, and went 1-for-6. On Sunday he batted fifth and went 0-for-4.
He’s 2-for-28 since his game-winning home run off Roy Halladay on May 15. Esteemed colleague Dave O’Brien reported from Anaheim that Uggla “toss[ed] equipment after a couple of at-bats” Sunday and afterward sat alone at his locker for a half-hour.
A month ago, Uggla was a man off to a slow start. Today he’s 30 percent of his way into a season, and he has 15 RBIs, 11 of which have come from home runs. Of his seven homers, five have come with the bases empty. He’s 6-for-47 (.128) with runners in scoring position.
The Braves knew, or at least thought they knew, what they were getting in Uggla: A second baseman of uncertain glove but consistent power. He’d averaged 30 homers and 93 RBIs over the previous five seasons, and a man who hits that well for that long doesn’t just forget how to hit. (Does he?)
But now a man expected to do much is doing little, and the cruel truth is that there’s little the Braves can do. They could bench Uggla for two or three games, but with Jason Heyward on the disabled list and Nate McLouth hurting this team is running short on bodies. And it’s not clear that benching an established hitter, or even moving him in the batting order, does much good: Phillies manager Charlie Manuel tried both tacks with Jimmy Rollins in 2009, and the former MVP still wound up hitting .250.
Regarding Uggla, the good news is that a good hitter invariably starts to hit. (Rollins has never been quite himself again, but he has been injured.) And it isn’t as if Uggla is the only proven hitter underperforming: Albert Pujols, the best in the business, is batting .269 and has gone 103 at-bats without a homer.
In sum, it happens. Trouble is, it has happened to Uggla at a particularly bad time. With a new team and a new contract, this season was to be his moment of true arrival. (”Nobody had ever seen me play,” he told USA Today last week. “I was in Florida.”) Instead it has been a period of reinvention, and not in a good way. He has fielded better than he has hit, but the Braves aren’t paying him to be Jose Lind.
As Uggla told O’Brien: “You can only take the playing-good-defense thing so far before you’ve got to get some hits and score some runs and drive in some runs. It’s a trying time right now.”
It is, and Uggla is doing what men in slumps invariably do: He’s swinging too hard, trying to compensate for two bad months in one at-bat. Baseball doesn’t work that way. According to ESPN’s Inside Edge, anything off-speed will get him out. He’s hitting .306 on fastballs, .210 on curves, .204 on sliders, .183 on changeups. (He’s also hitting .118 against lefthanders, which makes no sense; he hit .306 against them last season.)
It’s a trying time, but times can and do change. Jeter’s great slump of 2004 was broken by a couple of bloop doubles. That’s the time-honored ticket. After a protracted period of lineouts and frustration, a guy hits a few where they ain’t and the world looks different. Surely it will happen that way for Dan Uggla. Surely, I say.
By Mark Bradley
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180 comments Add your comment
Braint
May 23rd, 2011
2:18 pm
Wink – Sheff’s numbers in 2003 with Atl – .330/.419/.604, 1.023 OPS. 39 HR, 139 RBI, 37 2B,
126 R, 18 SB….yep, it’s sucks to have a free agent signing that doesn’t pan out like Sheff.
jayvee
May 23rd, 2011
2:20 pm
This layman and most everyone else watching a game in person or on TV can see that Uggla is simply overswinging. No sane pitcher is going to throw him a fastball middle-in. Why would they when they can put it on the outer half, or in the opposite batter’s box, and he will try to hit it over the left-field wall? The result is usually a weak grounder or a pop-up. Heyward has the same condition. In fact, he’s swinging so hard he hurts himself.
Gonzales has caught the virus, too.
Crazy.
Four words of advice for the lineup: Go. The. Other. Way.
Quit trying to pull the ball. Quit dropping your front shoulder (and quit injuring it). McCann has come out of a mild funk by going to the opposite field for a week now, with excellent results. Sit on the pitch away and hit it the other way. Once they do this for a while, pitchers will have to start coming in to them, and then they can turn on them. You can’t turn on a slider away.
But you can turn around and go back to the dugout,
skeptomania
May 23rd, 2011
2:21 pm
How about some batting practice for Uggla hitting low outside corner pitches to right field. Maybe moving a little closer to the plate until they start throwing inside. This is baseball 101. Fire the hitting coach. Notice the comments from Santana. The Braves swing at everything. No discipline on this team.
Omnipotent One
May 23rd, 2011
2:27 pm
Troy Glaus was probably the best pickup the Braves have had in a while…..and maybe that Wagner guy from last year!
chief pitchanono
May 23rd, 2011
2:29 pm
Mark you are right, this team on paper should do some damage, a I believe they still will its just takeing some time to click. At least its now and not September. Honestly I am more concerned with Heyward than I am Uglla. I believe Uggla will go on a tear sooner or later that will help carry the team back to the playoffs (as long as they can continue to survive his cold streak). Without Heyward though, and I mean the 1st half 2010 Heyward, I don’t think we will have enough offense to get very far in the playoffs. We might be able to slide in with the wildcard again if Uglla and everyone else plays up to their Avg’s. But if Heyward doesn’t rebound I don’t see us haveing enough offense to catch the Phillies. Hopefully its the injury and not the Frenchy sydrome. Time will tell Go Braves!!
Roger
May 23rd, 2011
2:33 pm
It might be a blow to his ego but I’d send Uggy down to triple A (like Bobby did Francoeur). Let him know that those big arms need to be producing base hits instead of growing so much. Maybe that would put him on notice that If you don’t produce, You’re gonna warm the bench. As for Heyward – - his repeated injuries lead me to believe that he’ll be a bust. You can’t stay on the DL a third of the season and contribute to the team. Potential doesn’t win games. Base hits wins games.
extremus
May 23rd, 2011
2:34 pm
I sure hope the Braves are able to turn things around and make this a playoff or even championship year. But the longer the offense is underperforming as it is, the less I believe we can realistically expect it (and even if they did manage to pull getting back to the playoffs off, it’s almost certainly be a swift elimination at the hands of the caliber of pitching they’d face on that stage).
I know everybody is beginning to cast their votes for the All-Star Game, but outside of some our pitchers (Venters should be a definite choice to represent the Braves there), the only Braves hitters I feel are remotely worthy or going are McCann and Prado. I know folks often just vote for their favorite team’s players, but I’m just not THAT much of a homer; most of the lineup frankly just doesn’t deserve that honor this year. Hopefully next season more of them will be worthy of voting for.
JCH
May 23rd, 2011
2:39 pm
A few of you have mentioned this but it’s always bothered me when a player is “given” the first month or so to “get going” – isn’t that why they have Spring Training? Don’t they do this to get accustomed to hitting against live, opposing, major-league pitching again?
I had this concern when I first read about Uggla’s “slow start” We “borrowed” Tex for the end of one season when he was “hitting” and we got rid of Laroche because of it (only to bring him back to be very productive at the “end” of another season). I thought we’d learned our lesson….
Let some other team watch these guys “get going” the first part of the season and only consider them as back-end offensive help at the trade deadline.
JCH
May 23rd, 2011
2:42 pm
To add insult to injury, we’re only 3 1/2 games out of first. Just think where we’d be even if we had last year’s much maligned offense????
I bet our pitchers would be much more comfortable as well knowing we aren’t in any serious danger of losing when they give up a run or two… As is, they, as a collective group, are the Braves MVP.
Joseph
May 23rd, 2011
2:52 pm
on behalf of marlins fans everywhere (ok, all 7 of us), thanks for the trade. At least Omar is batting over 200!
TOMY FOURNIER
May 23rd, 2011
2:54 pm
THE OWL NEED SOME “JUICY”…YES!!!1
cornjolio
May 23rd, 2011
2:58 pm
Braves’ fans are too accepting of mediocrity and are told they are getting a winning product on the field every season.
The non-existant sports media in this town is too afraid to be critical of Braves’ management & the dumb moves they make year in and year out
Max Sizemore
May 23rd, 2011
3:00 pm
Mark, Uggla’s low percentage against lefties is no aberration: His lifetime numbers, prior to this season are ..267/.349/.498 against RHP and .253/.350/.454 against LBP. I would guess that his open stance makes it difficult to hit the outside breaking ball from lefties. Pitchers aren’t going to throw a fastball on the inner half until he proves he can hit the breaking ball.
hard to figure out
May 23rd, 2011
3:01 pm
So now everybody has advice for Uggla, but seem to be giving the hitting coach a pass. If TP was still the hitting coach, everybody on here would be simply dogging the man. What gives with the new guy? Shouldn’t all our hitters be hitting above .280 now that TP isn’t the hitting coach? Why no outcry or ridiculing on here? Why no articles written about how bad the team as a whole is not hitting?
beebee
May 23rd, 2011
3:02 pm
Mark, how on EARTH can you even THINK of even MENTIONING Derek Jeter in a story about Uggla? How? How? How?
Derek’s a Hall of Famer.
Uggla’s nowhere NEAR the hall of Fame, except being in line for a ticketed tour!
I’ve watched Derek Jeter play.
Trust me. Dan Uggla is NO Derek Jeter.
Sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesssssssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh the AUDACITY!
southern hope
May 23rd, 2011
3:08 pm
I’m sure he’ll break out of this slump.
But he’s really going to need to write us a check for April and May.
Ed Ulnsky
May 23rd, 2011
3:11 pm
Where is Troy Glaus when you need him?
Appalachia Brave
May 23rd, 2011
3:16 pm
Come on guys, we say this stuff every year…..year after year!
Bluto
May 23rd, 2011
3:23 pm
Incredibly, as we sit here this very minute, ATL is 5th in the league in team BA which I find hard to believe. And the Phillies are ranked 12th in team BA! OK, i’m shocked at these numbers considering that my first impulse is to run Larry Parrish out of town on the next slow boat… BUT –
the numbers- they don’t lie. And we’re 2nd in the league in team pitching ERA, behind Philly.
Tell you what, it doesn’t make these games any easier to watch. But it also must suck to watch games in the other markets too because we aren’t the only team getting spanked right now….
RM
May 23rd, 2011
3:24 pm
At least move him to 7th in the lineup. He is killing the Braves by constantly stranding base runners! Bases loaded yesterday and he pops up in foul territory. Seriously!!??
Hank
May 23rd, 2011
3:28 pm
Uggla’s struggles are certainly unbearable to watch. ATL staff should treat this the way they would any other player and send him down to the minors for a few days to figure out what he’s doing wrong….regain that confidence. Trying to do so everyday in games that actually mean something does nothing but add more pressure to the guy. Embrace a demotion like a man, work on your mechanics, and get back up to ATL and light the scoreboard up.
Hank
May 23rd, 2011
3:31 pm
An interesting note though, in this year of the pitcher, several stars out there are struggling pretty bad to get their averages to at least respectable levels.
Fish Bisch
May 23rd, 2011
3:32 pm
Francuoer isn’t struggling hank.
RM
May 23rd, 2011
3:37 pm
@ hard to figure out – I’m with you. Do the Braves even have a batting coach now? TP caught a ton of the blame in the past, me included.
JCH
May 23rd, 2011
3:39 pm
Anybody else notice Charlie Morton’s numbers this year? 5-1 with a 2.62 for the Pirates!!!
His poor performance was the only bright spot of the McClouth trade!!!
Concerned...
May 23rd, 2011
3:41 pm
What bothers me is that turtles are not able to turn back over once they are on their backs. What’s up with that? Anyone here like banana pudding? I’m going to make some, so if you’d like some, shoot me your address & I’ll overnight it.
JCH
May 23rd, 2011
3:41 pm
Larry Parrish – he of the .263 lifetime BA
Those who can, do. Those who can’t teach…
Ralph
May 23rd, 2011
3:41 pm
MB, from the numbers you reported he must only seen 1 fast ball, 2 curves, 3 sliders and all the rest must have been change ups.
Harvey Korman's combover
May 23rd, 2011
3:42 pm
TN Jeff – harumph!!
Jay Dubu
May 23rd, 2011
3:43 pm
MB,
You mentioned Pujols, but there are a lot of hitters that are not on par with their averages of years past:
A-Rod, Teixeira, Swisher, Jeter, Carlos Gonzalez (batting title in 2010), & Hanley Ramirez, just to name a few.
None of the Braves’ regulars are hitting for a good average (.300+) this season, and Heyward has been out all of May (theoretically) and is still tied for the team lead in homeruns.
Braves hitters seem to do this same hot/cold act every years (at least for the past 3 – 4), and place undue pressure on the pitching. When the hitting warms up, the pitching goes awry.
Very rarely, are they in sync and clicking on all cylinders simultaneously.
biff pocaroba
May 23rd, 2011
3:47 pm
Hello!!!
I am looking for all the Chipper haters out there. Guy is 39 years old has had a few minor injuries but is battling through it. My question is why or how does a 21 year old specimen like Heyward not get the ridicule that the man who has carried this team and city on his shoulders.
Injuries part of the marathon, speaking of Marathon Uggla continues a marathon of not hitting! Why is he still even in the lineup. Most pitchers have a better batting average. Oh yeah he makes how much money a year, but thats right we only talk about how chipper makes to much on here.
Hinske should be in evry day lineup from here on out until he falters.
We nee to bring up another Catcher so one of the best PH we have in Ross can be used nightly. Sucks when he is hitting so well but we can only use him one day a week, Diroy off the bench as a right handed PH is ridiculous as a first option.
Dave
May 23rd, 2011
3:48 pm
I just think it’s ridiculous to call yourself a professional, get paid that kind of money, and not show up ready to work on day 1. I’m pretty sure the rest of us would get fired pretty quickly if someone was shelling out good money for what we do and we didn’t perform. I would love to be able to tell my manager “Sorry, April is just not my month. Wait until May”. If Uggla isn’t disciplined enough to go to spring training and get himself ready by opening day then he needs to find some training program that starts a lot earlier then spring training.
biff pocaroba
May 23rd, 2011
3:49 pm
Heyward soft
But we only rag on Chipper?
biff pocaroba
May 23rd, 2011
3:49 pm
Uggla needs to sit down, most picthers have a higher BA he makes huge money
But we only rag on Chipper’s salary?
biff pocaroba
May 23rd, 2011
3:51 pm
Ross is best right handed stick on bench but we only use him once evry five days because we only have two catchers, put him in
Jay Dubu
May 23rd, 2011
3:52 pm
MB,
What’s the relevance of the KK comment in the middle of a blog dedicated to the Braves’ putrid hitting?
Is he coming off the 7 day DL, after only 37 days?
He got a late start in ST, (I think the Braves were hoping not to get a visa at all, and have him remain in Japan), pitched for almost a month, and has taken another month off.
Do you?
May 23rd, 2011
3:56 pm
I like baseball
Dan Struggla
May 23rd, 2011
3:56 pm
I love how McClouth faked that injury right before going back to Pittsburgh…..hmmmmmmm ??
JCH
May 23rd, 2011
3:56 pm
Bif
We only have 1+ seasons with Heyward – but I get your point…
Agreed on Uggla, he needs to sit. But we have too many injuries at present
I like Ross too, where would you put him? Take out McCann, the only regular who’s producing??
Frustrating but it is what it is unfortunately…
JCH
May 23rd, 2011
3:59 pm
KK is ours, we’re paying him through the end of his contract whether we like it or not. Get over it.
The only question is whether we give the opposing team batting practice every 5th day or not – no matter the level.
Let him sit on the DL until he gets his last paycheck – unless he wants to come play 2B in the bigs! He sure can’t hit any worse!!!!
Jay Dubu
May 23rd, 2011
4:03 pm
In one of DOB’s blogs a day or so ago, he mentioned that there was a voluntary batting session early in the morning, and only 4 Braves, including Chipper showed up.
Didn’t sound as though one of them was Uggs, if I remember correctly.
Apparently, the other hitters feel that all is ok.
Bravey martiney
May 23rd, 2011
4:07 pm
If he were Francouer he would have been gone by now! Double standard when you are a franchise player.
Bobby Coccyx
May 23rd, 2011
4:07 pm
They’re all good kids
iTiSi
May 23rd, 2011
4:08 pm
The Bravos are doing what they usually do 2 or 3 times a year. They take a vacation, sometimes mentally, sometimes physically, and even sometimes at the same time. Have you ever seen a more lifeless, less emotional, spirited bunch in all your life? Honestly, until about the 8th or 9th innings, when they realize “hey, we’re losing” do they get a little energy in them. I noticed when they first started this road trip in AZ they looked like a “bunch of zombies”. You would think they had been gone for 2 weeks. I call it the “Union Effect” for reasons that I have seen and experienced and some of you will understand. Just wait though, they will get going about 2 weeks before the season is over, and they find themselves in 2nd or 3rd place. Then a few of them will have that “What Happened” look on their faces!!!
Jay Dubu
May 23rd, 2011
4:12 pm
@Bluto,
Check your stats again. Your information is askew.
Wren Got Bamboozled
May 23rd, 2011
4:15 pm
Uggla’s a lifetime .260 hitter that swings for the fences.. strikes out alot….RISP lifetime .230…most homers hit with NOBODY on base,,,Fredi sold Wren a false bill of goods about his buddy Uggs, after Uggs had a career year…Let the buyer beware or in this case , let the buyer BeWren….Fredi said to Uggs “dont sign with Marlins for 4×12m…I can get an x-tra year and another 12m for u up here to be w/me…Don’t be mad at Uggs…Shoot the salesman… Fredi
Bravo
May 23rd, 2011
4:16 pm
Move Uggla to center, put Prado back at second, Mather in left, Hinske in right. Chipper, Heyward and McLouth can soak in the hot tub.
Bobby's chauffeur
May 23rd, 2011
4:20 pm
What we have with Uggla is an athlete that knows he is not performing and doing his part. This only complicates the solution. He is trying too hard. He knows he was brought here to spark the offense and drive in runs. After a while, in the beginning, you have a few bad luck situations. a great play is made on a line drive that should have been a double, etc. etc. these things happen to all players. However, when the pressure is brought on (by yourself) Uggla has to feel I’ve got to do better and help my team mates, he tries too hard and is not focusing on fundementals. He is a head case at this time, only because he wants to perform so well. He will be OK.. A good game or two will turn his season around. And for those that think..send him down to Gwinnett, Yeah right that will boost his confidence. Remember it is only a game and we are not behind Philly by 12 games. Let the games begin.
Murph
May 23rd, 2011
4:21 pm
Uggla needs to stop giving fee whiffs of air conditioning to the stadium faithful and just make contact. He looks like an idiot trying to swing for the fence. The home runs will come. Concentrate on just making contact and getting base hits for now. As of now he is baseball’s version of Joe Johnson.
braves fan forever
May 23rd, 2011
4:27 pm
Uggla needs 2 bats to reach the outside corner.He needs to move up.I wonder about him being so bulky.Steroids?,but he will never get check he is not hitting the ball.We don’t have hitting coaches all we have is benchwarmers who are getting fat.Have you see TP lately.Stick a pin in him and watch him fly.Somebody needs to tell Larry Parrish he has a job to do.Heck the team goes to there dads,brothers,sisters,moms,palm readers,Medicine men to get advice on hitting not there supposedly hitting coaches.The hitting coaches are like the goverment getting payed to do nothing.