Major League Baseball

Struggling Uggla returns to Miami

Published Jun. 7, 2011 11:34 p.m. ET

share

facebookxredditlink

foxsports

Dan Uggla says he finds it hard to believe former teammate Hanley Ramirez is hitting so poorly this season for the Florida Marlins.

But then Uggla has done even worse with the Atlanta Braves.

Back in Miami for the first time since being traded to Atlanta last fall, Uggla began a series Tuesday against the Marlins ranked last in the majors with a batting average of .172.

Ramirez, who was Uggla's keystone partner for four seasons, ranked eighth-worst at .210 and is on the disabled list with a back strain.

''It looks like we need each other or something, you know?'' Uggla said with a chuckle. ''But he's a great, great hitter. He's going to come out of his thing, and I'm going to come out of mine.''

Uggla signed a five-year, $62 million contract after the Braves acquired him in November, and some speculate he has pressed at the plate because of his big deal.

''You can look at it a bunch of different ways and try to make excuses about it,'' he said. ''It's just one of those things. I've had a rough start to this year for whatever reason. Who knows? People can say the contract, the pressure, the city, the team. For me it's just a rough start. I'm going to battle and try to get out of it.''

There was no sign of that happening: He began the series in Miami with five hits in his past 60 at-bats (.083). In 221 at-bats he had seven homers but only 16 RBIs. He was batting .102 against left-handers and .111 with runners in scoring position.

Manager Fredi Gonzalez noted that Uggla was a model of consistency when played for the Marlins from 2006 through 2010. Each year the second baseman had at least 27 homers and 88 RBIs.

''You read the back of the baseball card and see all of those home runs and RBIs - I've got to believe that is going to kick in,'' Gonzalez said.

The series at Florida was also a homecoming for Gonzalez. He grew up in Miami and managed the Marlins for 3 1/2 seasons before being fired last June.

share

Get more from Major League Baseball Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more

in this topic

Major League Baseball