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
curt moore
May 23rd, 2011
4:29 pm
Mark The problem I have is my main man now plays for the Marlins(Infante). With him we would have won at least 6-8 more games. He’s a contact hitter-my favorite kind. Uggla has a problem he can’t keep his eye on the ball. The result is weak ground balls or pop ups. With the money the Braves have invested only solution is to close your eyes when he comes to bat. I do think a couples of games off might help. If I was Fredi I definitely would do something different. You can only stand Uggla stranding baserunners time after time.
Alaska Braves Fan
May 23rd, 2011
4:32 pm
As I have mentioned previously, both Uggla and Heyward are in for bad years. Sometimes in baseball there isn’t a very good answer to why something happens, but almost always it is in the players’ heads. The situation clearly has got into Uggla’s head, and he’ll have a very hard time getting it out. That’s why, as with Jeter, sometimes the solution is almost accidental – a couple of bloop hits. I don’t see this getting better anytime soon.
Heyward is a similar case, though with a different problem. In his head, it seems, one must feel perfect to perform as an athlete. Baseball and football would be finished as sports if that always were true. Many players have nagging pain and soreness. Though some criticize Chipper for often being hurt, I very much admire that way he has crafted a Hall of Fame career while playing through injuries and pain. Jason doesn’t seem to be able to do that, and it’s in his head. Another item that won’t soon be solved.
The Braves cannot write these two guys off for obvious reasons. They just have to keep plugging, and hope people like Mather and Hinske keep pulling the fat out of the fire. Eventually, both players may come around, but I’m thinking 2012, not 2011.
ABF
Jose Cuervo
May 23rd, 2011
4:33 pm
Those antsy feet and that off-balance upper cut. I have no idea how he has ever hit!
Bernard
May 23rd, 2011
4:34 pm
THE WHOLE TEAM IS SLUMPING!!!!!
Johnny-oh!
May 23rd, 2011
4:36 pm
I wonder if he is more antsy in the batter’s box now than he was in Florida. I can’t see how that guy can hit anything.
Chip
May 23rd, 2011
4:38 pm
Since a slump is almost always a mental thing, I wonder why more teams don’t have a sports psychologist on the payroll during the season to help players work out how they feel? Sounds very un-manly I know but ask John Smoltz if it works.
Mark Bradley
May 23rd, 2011
4:38 pm
Omar Infante is hitting .232 for Florida.
Left Coast Brave
May 23rd, 2011
4:50 pm
I got an ear-full of comments about the Braves from people I knew when I lived in So Cal. Most asking whether the Braves team that made the trek out west was actually their triple A team. UGH!
Serbok
May 23rd, 2011
5:00 pm
Cant believe I’m saying this (Either!)
Larry Parrish~ was a “Modecum” HR hitter with a batting AVG~ that was what?
My guess around 260? Just goin on memory~
TP won a batting title~ and MVP award?
Go Figure!
tom varacalli
May 23rd, 2011
5:10 pm
who or what that got “frenchy” going in KC needs to spend a little time with uggla.
dawg4u
May 23rd, 2011
5:10 pm
Where is Jack Llewellyn when you need him? He sure helped out John Smoltz back in the 90’s. It is really a good thing that the Philly hitters have been slumping or we would be much worse than 3 1/2 games out. They will get Chase Utley back shortly though. Agree that Uggla definitely needs to move up in the batters box.
Bob
May 23rd, 2011
5:16 pm
I’m sure Dan Uggla is a good person and Joe Johnson is too. And probably Mike Vick as well before he was corrupted by his posse and his money, but all these athletes are symptoms of today’s society. Once they hit the jackpot, there is no incentive…and there is no self-pride either. It’s all about the money.
big brave
May 23rd, 2011
5:29 pm
Send the joker down to the minors and teach him how to hit.Bring up a kid ,the heck with that joker.
Just saying...
May 23rd, 2011
5:39 pm
Why do all these players hit a ton until they don a shirt with a Tomahawk across the front?
New hitting coach? Psychologist? Something quick!
gcs
May 23rd, 2011
5:40 pm
Patience? How much patience are WE supposed to have? Are we supposed to wait around like we have for McLouth?
The Braves are almost one-third of the way through the season and Uggla has yet to prove his worth. The best cure is a seat on the bench. Move Prado to 2nd and Hinske/Mather in left. If that is too radical for you, at least move him down in the order.
Do you realize that Uggla has played every inning of every game? What is the deal with that?
.
Just saying...
May 23rd, 2011
5:43 pm
I agree that we should play the most productive players, not the highest paid.
Texas Braves Fan
May 23rd, 2011
5:50 pm
I think his biceps need to be larger…
Error Maniacs
May 23rd, 2011
5:55 pm
Dan, since you can’t hit right-handed, how about turning around and swinging left-handed–can’t be any worse. And then if that don’t work, bath in disinfectant, burn all your old uniforms, jockstraps, cleats and ALL your BATS. Maybe then the curse will be gone. Here’s wishing you well!
Ah ha
May 23rd, 2011
6:08 pm
Roger Mcdowell must be laughing. He uses a gay slur to a fan and gets lambasted and suspended for what 20 games and fined. Noah does it and will just get a fine? What a joke.
Ah ha
May 23rd, 2011
6:08 pm
Why is my post comparing roger mcdowell to noah not showing up mark. This blog is a joke
JDW
May 23rd, 2011
6:16 pm
How about putting him in a uniform that doesn’t look like it was made for an eight year old. He looks so stiff and choked in the batter’s box. Get the damn guy a uni that fits him!
Rico Party
May 23rd, 2011
6:29 pm
Hitting Tip for Uggla– As the picher winds and is about to release the ball– relax, close your eyes and swing you might just hit the ball.
Karl
May 23rd, 2011
6:37 pm
Dan Uggla = Meathead
nique
May 23rd, 2011
6:40 pm
Even though it doesn’t make sense on paper, I think they should sit Uggla for a game or two. Let him get refreshed a bit and put him out there after that.
Navigator
May 23rd, 2011
7:14 pm
The Braves are becoming a joke to the real teams, offering over the hill players big contracts. Do they think these players are really that wanted that they have to pay the premium price for these guys. The player agents lick their chops when they negotiate with the Braves. Looks like another period like the the 1970-1989 when the National League looks down their collective nose at the Braves Franchise.
AlabamaRamblinwreck
May 23rd, 2011
7:33 pm
Uggla stinks….strikeout machine…hits mistakes hard, but cannot make it happen with pitcher’s who are careful and don’t make the mistakes….
Jon
May 24th, 2011
8:55 am
I played baseball for 14 years and realize individual slumps will happen. It’s almost impossible to keep your mind off of if when youre up to bat, so it turns more mental and eats you up, making the problem worse.
That said, yes, individual slumps are part of the game and Uggla will eventually be fine. However, when the entire team slumps for 1/3 of the season and you are at the bottom of the league in OBP with a talented lineup, the coaching staff is the majority of the problem – not each individual player.
The front office needs to fire our hitting coach and make an example that they won’t tolerate poor performance. Hopefully this will also serve as an eye opener for Fredi…I’m not calling for his head yet, but so far am very disappointed in the job he has done. He seems to create as much excitement in the dugout as you would find at the local nursing home and doesn’t back hid players up like Bobby. A perfect example is vs the Phillies at home Friday before last when the ump missed the strike three call and McCann started running in the dugout before being called back out to the field after the ump called it a ball. What did Fredi do? Nothing. He just sat motionless in the dugout as usual, not sticking up for his players. I don’t know how many of you watched that game, but we ended up losing the game due to that call after it led to the tying run scoring.
The moral of the story is Uggla will be ok, we need a new hitting coach yesterday, and Fredi needs to light a spark in the dugout. It would do him good to argue a close call and get ejected from a game to fire the players up and let them know he actually cares about the team.
Ted Abernathy
May 24th, 2011
9:02 am
So whatever happened to Matt Young? Maybe Ross could play 1B and we send the rookie back to Gwinnett or Richmond.
ted
May 24th, 2011
12:03 pm
He is basically a .250 hitter with power right.
BravesFAN
May 26th, 2011
2:10 pm
Funny EVERYBODY and their mother based TP as our hitting coach and it seems he played a bigger part in our guys going deep unto counts and having better OBPs than they do now. Our team obp was so good and this year it is SO AWFUL…UGGGLA HAS to get it going for us to make the playoffs..