Melvin Upton enjoying return to adequacy after years of 'forcing the issue'
It’s almost as if he’d been placed in a witness protective program.
He moved 2,000 miles across the country.
Started work with a new employer, in a different position.
Why, he even changed his name.
Melvin Upton Jr, has re-emerged, and can now be found playing for the San Diego Padres.
The cover was blown when he showed up looking a whole lot like the guy who the Atlanta Braves signed back in November 2012, giving him a five-year, $75.25 million contract.
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Upton’s numbers hardly are eye-popping, but considering the depths to which he sank in Atlanta, who would have envisioned that a change of scenery could resurrect his career, and inspire his club to pitch him for next month’s All-Star Game at Petco Park?
Upton, who’s playing Gold Glove defense in left field, is hitting .253 with a .707 OPS, with nine homers and 15 stolen bases. He’s on pace to join Reggie Sanders in 1999 as the only Padres to hit 20 homers and steal at least 30 bases in the same season.
And he’s also producing a season similar to his final year in Tampa Bay in 2012 - when he batted .246 with a .752 OPS, and 28 homers and 31 stolen bases.
He turned that season into the richest contract in Braves history, joining forces in an outfield with Jason Heyward and his brother, Justin.
The euphoria of the contract soon turned into a nightmare.
“I’m not going to lie to you, it was tough, so damn tough,’’ Upton quietly said in front of his locker. “I just started struggling, and it snowballed, and it kept getting worse and worse. And I can’t blame anyone but myself.’’
It was ugly. Upton batted a major-league worst .184 with only 23 extra-base hits and 26 RBI, striking out in a whopping 39% of his at-bats. He barely improved the next year, hitting .208 with 36 extra-base hits and 35 RBI, striking out 173 times.
In two years, at the cost of $28.9 million, the Braves watched Upton hit .198 with a .279 on-base percentage and .314 slugging, including 21 homers and 32 stolen bases.
The Braves saw enough. They dumped Upton on the eve of the season opener to San Diego, packaging him with All-Star closer Craig Kimbrel in a six-player deal. The deal would only be consummated, the Braves told the Padres, if they took Upton and the remaining $46.35 million in his contract.
“Signing the biggest free-agent contract in the history of the Braves,’’ says Upton, “I heard that a lot. You try not to live up to the money, but with the way things are today, it’s tough not to hear. It gets to you.’’
Times were so much easier in Tampa. Carl Crawford will tell you. He signed a seven-year, $142 million free-agent contract with the Boston Red Sox after leaving Tampa, was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers in a salary dump, and was released two weeks ago with about $35 million left in his contract.
“It was just different there,’’ Upton said. (Manager) Joe (Maddon) would always run me out there, good or bad. If I was struggling, he’d give me a day off here or there, but for the most part, he let me play through it, grind it out. They would never give up on you.
“In Atlanta, it was more of the instant gratification, instant success. I wasn’t producing offensively, and they felt they had to go in a different way. I understand. I respect that.’’
As expectations diminished, Upton started showing signs of life last season. He opened the year on the DL, didn’t join the Padres until June, but then it started clicking. He wound up hitting .289 with 18 extra-base hits after July 10, and in September, batted .325.
The talent, which had been suffocated for so long, started breathing again. The confidence was back. And now, it’s as if the three-year nightmare never existed.
Now, who would imagine that with nearly half the season completed, he’d be having a better year than his former outfield teammates? Heyward, who signed an eight-year, $184 million free-agent contract with the Chicago Cubs, is hitting .236 with four homers and 25 RBI. Justin Upton, who signed a six-year deal for $132.75 million with the Detroit Tigers, is hitting .235 with eight homers and 31 RBI.
“People don’t realize how tough it is, especially having that money attached to your name,’’ Melvin Upton said. “If you’re a competitor, man, you want to succeed. But sometimes, with that money, I think we try to force the issue instead of letting it happen.’’
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Now, everyone is seeing the real Melvin Upton, who started going by his birth name a year ago, dropping his nickname, B.J.
“He’s always been a guy who could impact the game with his talent,’’ Padres GM A.J. Preller said. “It’s just a matter of him coming out and here and being comfortable. He put a lot on pressure on himself when he signed that contract, and for him, this is a fresh start.
“He’s playing like an All-Star, and there’s no reason why he can’t continue it. The way he is physically, and the body type he has with a lot of twitch, he’s going to play as long as he wants to.’’
Upton, who has no intention of retiring when his contract expires after 2017, says he loves the game too much to stop now. He’s having fun again.
“I’ll still never forget it standing on first base,’’ Upton said, “and (Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman) Adrian Gonzalez told me, “They paid you to be who you are. Don’t be somebody you’re not.’ That got my attention.
“I realized I got caught up in that instead of being myself. When I came back this year, I told myself, “No matter what, just be yourself. You can’t try to live up to the money, because nothing good will come out of it.
“Well, I got the opportunity to do that again, and I’m happy again. I’m in a good spot, both mentally and physically.’’
Maybe, soon, in front of the entire baseball world.
“If I made the All-Star Game, my first one ever after 10 years,’’ Upton said, breaking into a huge grin, “now that would be pretty cool.
“Man, after everything I’ve been through, real cool.’’
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