Justin Upton is a huge disappointment!

[devilalum]

Ok, I'm not sayin he's a bust but he was supposed to be our franchise player and he's average at best. The thing that really gets me is that he seems to have stopped improving the day he signed his big contract. The guy fields like a little leaguer and either he has no common baseball sense or his head is just not ever in the game. When he's not missing routine fly balls he's overthrowing the cutoff man or throwing to the wrong base.

There are about 10 players who were taken right after Upton in the '05 draft that have become stars.

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/history/draft/draft.jsp

Upton was supposed to be the next coming of Jr. Griffey but instead he's just becoming the next in a long line of super gifted athletes that will won't reach their potential.

If the Dbacks had taken Braun instead of Upton they'd have a 5 game lead in the west right now.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/braunry02.shtml
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/u/uptonju01.shtml

 

[ASUCHRIS]

Upton has been a spectacular disappointment this year, particularly as of late. I just wish he had a Ryan Roberts/Bloomquist mentality, and focused more on making contact than trying to hit home runs every at bat.

Loved last night when he had a 2-0 count, runners on 1st and 3rd, gets a fastball right down the middle and pops it up. His #'s with runners in scoring position and less than 2 outs are pathetic.

 

[devilalum]

Upton has been a spectacular disappointment this year, particularly as of late. I just wish he had a Ryan Roberts/Bloomquist mentality, and focused more on making contact than trying to hit home runs every at bat.

Loved last night when he had a 2-0 count, runners on 1st and 3rd, gets a fastball right down the middle and pops it up. His #'s with runners in scoring position and less than 2 outs are pathetic.

Right, so here's my question. Is the team asking him to swing for the fences every at bat or is he just stubborn and does whatever he wants?

Mark Grace talks about it all the time. Get in good counts and look for a particular pitch THEN come out of your shoes. If you've got two strikes change your approach, shorten up your swing etc...

This is the stuff they teach in high school. The same can be said for his fielding.

 

[devilalum]

He's sitting today?

 

[Catfish]

Justin Upton has an eye problem, (make that an "I" problem). With him, it is all about me, me, me. He is not buying into what Gibby is teaching. He will not shorten his swing, or merely put the ball in play. He is in it for him and him alone. He is not giving any indication that he wants it any other way. Watch his demeanor. He is seemingly above the game, with his maddeningly slow walk around the right field area after he has booted a play. He is disassociated from his team-mates and the fans. He has the ability to play with a burst, but he continues to show-off his glide, often getting to hit balls slightly late and making the play a harder one than it really would have been if he had just put the necessary effort into it from the beginning.

His batting has become a laugher. Instead of simply putting the ball into play, he continues to swing for the fences, often taking himself off his feet, or knocking his batting helmet off. If you watch his head, you will see that often it is the first thing to come up during the swing, so he can see how far he is going to hit it. He should be a career 300 hitter, because he has great hand eye coordination when he stays within himself. He generates great power with his build, and does not need to overswing in order to generate distance.

His biggest problem is that he won't listen to anyone in authority. He is a me first guy who is all about the money and the fame, and therefore puts team second. What a shame and a waste of great talent. The really sad part is that he influences his friend Chris Young too, and it has effected his play also. These are the only two left who do not seem to be buying into what Gibby is preaching. That is truly sad, because those two are wasting more talent than most of the other players have.

Upton should be a star caliber player, but he is choosing a path that has his star-power fading quickly, and will soon become a cancer on this team unless he changes his ways.

 

[BC867]

He's sitting today?

A good way to get him out of the 3-spot. But then they'll probably move Young to #3.

To reverse an old phrase . . . out of the fire, into the frying pan.

Whether its Dumb or Dumber who's left, well, y'know.

Or, they could move Drew, our cleanup hitter, up to 3rd. That still leaves cleanup. How about Mirandizing it. "Juan, you have the right to hit cleanup. Any balls you popup will be held against you."

 

[ASUCHRIS]

Right, so here's my question. Is the team asking him to swing for the fences every at bat or is he just stubborn and does whatever he wants?

Mark Grace talks about it all the time. Get in good counts and look for a particular pitch THEN come out of your shoes. If you've got two strikes change your approach, shorten up your swing etc...

This is the stuff they teach in high school. The same can be said for his fielding.

Yep, Grace is becoming less and less subtle about his criticisms of Upton.

 

[devilalum]

Yep, Grace is becoming less and less subtle about his criticisms of Upton.

Sometimes I wonder if this is an organizational strategy to prepare fans for a trade.

 

[BC867]

Sometimes I wonder if this is an organizational strategy to prepare fans for a trade.

Usually, that would be the case. But Grace is such a loose cannon, I wouldn't jump to that conclusion. When he talks baseball, I absolutely agree with him when he ridicules the popups, no matter who hits them.

I even sided with Sutton (who is much more serious when not paired with Grace) when he talked about non-productive outs and Joe Garagiola disagreed with him while doing color commentary.

Joe said there is no such thing as a productive out. I was shocked.

A popup or strikeout (maybe we should start saying, "He swung and "Younged" or "He swung and Uptoned") is indeed a non-productive out.

The only time you might want to see your batter strike out is when you have a runner on first, your Pitcher is up and you fear the possibility of a double play. Of course, the D'backs have had more than their share of Pitchers who know what they're doing at the plate. Zach Duke being the latest.

Back to your comment. It will be interesting to see if Grace's open criticism of Young and Upton's popups and strikeouts were sanctioned by the Front Office in advance of possible trades.

 

[Arizona's Finest]

I'm disappointed he hasn't become a franchise player yet but give him time.

I bet before the end of the season he carries us offensively over a 25-30 game stretch. Or at least I hope so.

 

[BC867]

D'backs beat the Astros 11-3 with Upton on the bench. Not a tension-filled one-run win (or loss) but an eight-run victory.

Two homeruns -- one by our pitcher and one by our line drive hitting left fielder (who picked out his pitch) covering for Upton in RF.

Do you think Justin Upton will begin to understand that with him tying up our #3 position in the batting order with popups, and strikeouts and his careless play in RF, he is not helping the team?

 

[82CardsGrad]

Do you think Justin Upton will begin to understand that with him tying up our #3 position in the batting order with popups, and strikeouts and his careless play in RF, he is not helping the team?

Ummmmmm..... Nope....

 

[BC867]

Ummmmmm..... Nope....

Management must. I wonder what's going on behind the scenes, both at the Managerial and General Manager levels.

 

[devilalum]

Its hard to imagine this guy playing shortstop. On the Dbacks site there is a clip of "Uptons Great Catch."

http://arizona.diamondbacks.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=14817087&c_id=ari

I guess its the best they could come up with.

 

[overseascardfan]

Huge conspiracy theory here, but give it some thought. If Drew does leave here after this year and we do not have a SS ready to replace him (Chris Owings), could we replace him with Upton or bring in a stop gap to replace him. Depending on what ARZ does in next week's draft, it could indicate if they were to take the 17 year old HS SS from FL at #3, Lindor I believe is his name and the AZ Republic featured him today in the D'Backs draft preview or take OF Bubba Starling maybe that indicates Young or Upton may be moved as Starling is considered a CF but he has a cannon for an arm that could make him a possibility at RF and is said to be nearly major league ready right now.

BTW, I know Upton hasn't played SS in years but if he has the athletic ability everyones says shouldn't he be able to adjust? He can't be any worse than RF.

 

[PoolBoy]

i always wonder to myself how did Upton play SS. the SS arguably should be your best defender, and Upton can't even field ground balls in the outfield.

 

[devilalum]

Huge conspiracy theory here, but give it some thought. If Drew does leave here after this year and we do not have a SS ready to replace him (Chris Owings), could we replace him with Upton or bring in a stop gap to replace him. Depending on what ARZ does in next week's draft, it could indicate if they were to take the 17 year old HS SS from FL at #3, Lindor I believe is his name and the AZ Republic featured him today in the D'Backs draft preview or take OF Bubba Starling maybe that indicates Young or Upton may be moved as Starling is considered a CF but he has a cannon for an arm that could make him a possibility at RF and is said to be nearly major league ready right now.

BTW, I know Upton hasn't played SS in years but if he has the athletic ability everyones says shouldn't he be able to adjust? He can't be any worse than RF.

Having a bad RF hurts a team, having a bad SS can KILL a team.

 

[BC867]

i always wonder to myself how did Upton play SS. the SS arguably should be your best defender, and Upton can't even field ground balls in the outfield.

When I was younger and played a little ball, being a lefty (but not a pitcher), I loved playing 1B and feeling in on the action on every pitch.

I hated being in the OF, because of the limited activity on defense and distance from where the action was.

That being said, it never, ever resulted in me being lackadaisical while playing the outfield. Upton has no excuse.

BTW, I know Upton hasn't played SS in years but if he has the athletic ability everyones says shouldn't he be able to adjust? He can't be any worse than RF.

Would you want a SS where the best you can say about him is that he can't be any worse than he is in RF?

As devilalum said:

Having a bad RF hurts a team, having a bad SS can KILL a team.

 

[devilalum]

I wonder if he has a bad attitude because they tried to trade him during the off season?

No matter, the Dbacks have won like 16 out of 18 with their "best" player doing NOTHING.

On a positive note who's the early front runner to represent the Dbacks at the All Star game? I'd say either Kennedy or Young, maybe both if they throw the Dbacks a bone for hosting. I don't think we have a bona fide star on the team at this point.

 

[BC867]

On a positive note who's the early front runner to represent the Dbacks at the All Star game? I'd say either Kennedy or Young, maybe both if they throw the Dbacks a bone for hosting. I don't think we have a bona fide star on the team at this point.

Don't forget JJ Putz. So far, he is doing his job better than anyone else on the team. Especially with the pressure of him being the recipient of so many stressful one-run leads in the 9th.

 

[devilalum]

When I was younger and played a little ball, being a lefty (but not a pitcher), I loved playing 1B and feeling in on the action on every pitch.

I hated being in the OF, because of the limited activity on defense and distance from where the action was.

That being said, it never, ever resulted in me being lackadaisical while playing the outfield. Upton has no excuse.


Would you want a SS where the best you can say about him is that he can't be any worse than he is in RF?
:

Yeah, throughout baseball history there have been lots of good teams that had SS that barely hit .200 but all of them could play the position. A SS that can hit AND field is a major asset. That's why the Dbacks need to hang onto Drew, above avg fielder, good hitter, bats left, 'nough said.

 

[devilalum]

Don't forget JJ Putz. So far, he is doing his job better than anyone else on the team. Especially with the pressure of him being the recipient of so many stressful one-run leads in the 9th.

Good call. Can you get just pitchers? Don't they assign the position players first? If Kennedy and Putz stay on track they're probably our All Stars.

 

[BC867]

Good call. Can you get just pitchers? Don't they assign the position players first? If Kennedy and Putz stay on track they're probably our All Stars.

I think the All Star managers choose the rest of their squad after the leaders for each of the eight positions have been chosen by the fans.

That includes the backup position players (they are not obliged to choose those who finish second at each position) and all the pitchers . . . plus the starting DH.

As of April 28th of last year, Selig decided that the DH would be used by every all-star team, whether played in an AL or NL park.

I hate the DH and I think it was a mistake having it in one league, expecially with interleague play. But, that being the case, I guess it makes sense to use the DH in every all-star game.

I still would rather see baseball go back to what it was for the better part of a hundred years. A game of strategy involving the ninth spot in the batting order.

Boy, am I glad Jerry fought to keep the D'backs in the NL soon after we began. But he did it for the revenue, with so many Cubs and Dodger fans living in the Valley. And Phoenix having been an NL minor league city with the Giants AAA team.

 

[devilalum]

I hate the DH and I think it was a mistake having it in one league, expecially with interleague play. But, that being the case, I guess it makes sense to use the DH in every all-star game.

The DH rarely even comes into play during an All Star game anyway because of the constant changing of pitchers. Usually the starters throw 2 or 3 innings and its all one inning after that.

 

[overseascardfan]

Would you want a SS where the best you can say about him is that he can't be any worse than he is in RF?

As devilalum said:

Lest you forget, he was a top notch HS SS when he was drafted, he switched because we drafted Stephen Drew the year before. He played the position a lot longer than OF. He may require some practice and time but its not like he never played the position. He is a terrible OF so I feel that he would be a better SS than OF.