Major League Baseball

Uggla stays grounded through hit streak

Published Aug. 14, 2011 5:09 p.m. ET

share

facebookxredditlink

Ken Rosenthal

The best thing about Dan Uggla is that he’s the same guy he was on July 4, the day before his 33-game hitting streak began.

His batting average then was .173.

"I told him in Washington DC, and I meant it — you’ve earned so much respect from me and the rest of the team," Atlanta Braves catcher David Ross said Saturday night, recalling a conversation that took place with his teammate in early August.

"He has gone about his business day in and day out, never loafed one ground ball, never taken an at-bat out to the field. You can’t teach that. That’s character. And it’s hard to find in this game."

Ross knows what it is like to bat .200 — he hit .203 for the Cincinnati Reds in 2007 and recalls it as a "mental grind." But Uggla, through all his struggles, continued running hard to first, diving for balls at second, saying and doing all the right things.

I saw Uggla in Philadelphia shortly before the All-Star break, when his streak was only a few days old. He told me that he didn’t care how his final numbers turned out. He wasn’t going to allow his season-long slump to affect him in the clubhouse, wasn’t going to act selfishly and separate himself from his teammates.

"It’s not about getting mine anymore," said Uggla, who spent his first five seasons with the Florida Marlins. "The only thing I’m concerned about is winning."

Uggla, 31, still not might reach his career batting, on-base and slugging averages entering the season — .263/.349/.488. But he’s up to .232/.300/.453, and he’s on pace to finish with 82 RBI and a career-high 36 home runs.

As for the streak, the longest in the majors this season, Sunday's game against the Cubs marked the end of it.

Previously, Uggla ended the drama early in his three most recent games before Sunday, each time getting a hit in his first at-bat. Ross joked that he and the other Braves were happy that Uggla broke the tension so quickly.

"We’re like, 'OK, we can go play the game now,' " Ross said.

Admirable restraint by Braves

The physical questions surrounding right-handers Tommy Hanson and Jair Jurrjens — and the fact righty Derek Lowe is 38 — justify the Braves’ refusal to trade their top pitching prospects at the non-waiver deadline.

Righty Arodys Vizcaino is now in the team’s bullpen, and righties Julio Teheran and Randall Delgado also might contribute sooner than the team anticipated, Delgado has thrown 13 scoreless innings since his promotion to Triple-A.

Left-hander Mike Minor, meanwhile, was impressive Friday night against the Chicago Cubs while allowing three runs in 5-2/3 innings. The New York Mets, you may recall, wanted Minor for Carlos Beltran, and other teams also coveted the lefty.

“He’s coming into his own,” Ross said of Minor. “He throws four pitches for strikes. And when he shakes you off, he has an idea. He lets me know how he likes to pitch. I can use that information.

“He’s shaking off to smart pitches. He’s not just shaking to shake, to go to his one money pitch.”

I loved the Beltran move for the San Francisco Giants, the team’s willingness to trade its top pitching prospect, right-hander Zack Wheeler, for a chance to win its second straight World Series.

Still, there was always the risk that Beltran might get hurt or hit less effectively, and he has now missed a week since he strained his right hand. The other risk, of course, is that Wheeler could turn into John Smoltz, whom the Detroit Tigers famously traded for Doyle Alexander on Aug. 12, 1987.

The deal worked out well for the Tigers: Alexander went 9-0 with a 1.53 ERA, helping the team to the postseason. But Smoltz went on to a Hall of Fame career with the Braves.

LoMo and the flopping Fish

Logan Morrison, the Florida Marlins’ outspoken left fielder, told reporters that something he did "off the field" might have contributed to his surprising demotion Saturday night. Anything is possible with the unpredictable Marlins, but Morrison’s recent on-field performance wasn’t so hot, either.

Morrison was batting .330/.424/.585 on May 27 but had hit only .215/.284/.414 since (with 11 homers in 256 at-bats). His defense in left field — a position he began playing last season after moving from first — rates poorly, according to advanced metrics.

So much for the Jack McKeon magic: The Marlins, 1-8 on a 10-game homestand that concludes Sunday, are again reeling. They are 24-23 under McKeon after going 32-39 under Edwin Rodriguez and losing their one game with Brandon Hyde at the helm.

Hello, Ozzie Guillen? Maybe. But let’s see what the Marlins do with their roster this offseason as they prepare to move into a new ballpark. They intend to raise their payroll from $56.9 million, the seventh-lowest in the majors.

The trade of Uggla — which yielded infielder Omar Infante and left-handed reliever Mike Dunn and created the payroll flexibility to sign free-agent catcher John Buck and right-hander Javier Vazquez — amounted to little more than churn.

Strasburg zipping along

Washington Nationals right-hander Stephen Strasburg threw 96-98 mph and touched 99 in his second rehab start coming off Tommy John surgery Friday night — then threw 17 more pitches in the bullpen after his three innings were complete.

Nats general manager Mike Rizzo says the team intends to restrict Strasburg to 50 to 55 innings, including the simulated games he threw before starting his rehab assignment, as well as any major league starts he might make in September.

The Nats followed a similar course last season with right-hander Jordan Zimmermann, who threw a total of 70-2/3 innings coming off Tommy John surgery, enabling him to "graduate" this season to approximately 160.

Zimmermann, the Nationals' top starter, has thrown 145 innings thus far. He’s 7-10 with a 3.23 ERA, and his run support is the fourth worst in the National League.

Rhodes to the rescue

The signing of left-hander Arthur Rhodes not only liberates St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa to use lefty Marc Rzepczynski more frequently but also gives the team a third bullpen weapon against left-handed hitters.

That other weapon would be righty Kyle McClellan.

McClellan, who moved to the bullpen following the trade for righty Edwin Jackson, uses his change-up to neutralize lefties. Right-handers are batting .305/.358/.475 against him this season, lefties .198/.260/.321.

McClellan’s previous career splits aren’t quite that pronounced, but La Russa’s bullpen is clearly more balanced than it was before the addition of Rzepczynski in the Colby Rasmus trade on July 27.

The Cardinals also pursued Padres closer Heath Bell before the non-waiver trade deadline but at this point probably would not claim him on waivers in another attempt to work out a trade.

Righty Fernando Salas is 22 for 25 in save opportunities and averaging better than a strikeout per inning. The Cardinals and other teams will be reluctant to part with quality young talent for say, 15 innings of Bell.

Brew Crew: No lefty in 'pen necessary

The Brewers, in contrast to the Cardinals, lack a left-hander in their bullpen: Randy Wolf and injured Chris Narveson are the only lefties on Milwaukee's staff.

The issue, though, isn’t as alarming for the Brewers as it might appear: The team’s three principal righties — LaTroy Hawkins, Francisco Rodriguez and John Axford — all have been stunningly effective against left-handed hitters.

Axford, since his nightmarish blown save on Opening Day, is 34 for 35 in save opportunities with a 1.81 ERA.

I quoted a scout early in the season as saying that Axford’s delivery wouldn’t work long-term. That scout now admits he was wrong.

"He’s throwing quality strikes, and I didn’t think he would be able to," the scout said. "He also has guys chasing the high fastball. He has better deception than most."

Rays' Kotchman enjoying the moment

As I mentioned on the FOX broadcast of the Rays-Yankees game Saturday, there might not be a player more grateful of his place in the majors than Tampa Bay first baseman Casey Kotchman.

“It’s a privilege to put on a big-league uniform,” Kotchman said.

Kotchman, playing for his fifth team in four seasons, signed a minor-league contract with the Rays on Jan. 28. But entering Sunday, he was tied for second in the American League with a .335 batting average.

"When you’ve got to work for things, you’re more appreciative," Kotchman said. "The game is based on adversity. If you don’t have to deal with it, it’s human nature — you just come to expect success."

Kotchman is not going to be a perennial .330 hitter — he rarely draws walks and his batting average on balls in play this season is an abnormally high .365.

Still, Rays manager Joe Maddon projects Kotchman in the .280 to .300 range consistently, saying that the first baseman is hitting the ball harder than he did when the two previously were together with the Angels.

Kotchman, 28, said he never lost faith in his ability and that he was fortunate to stay in the game long enough to reach his prime.

"I believed things would end up working out. You have to be patient," he said.

Damon's Hall of Fame case

I don’t think of the Rays’ Johnny Damon as a Hall of Famer, but his case is mounting.

Damon, 314 hits short of 3,000, says he wants to play "a few more years." He also says that he is less concerned with 3,000 than his place on the all-time list for runs scored.

Damon is third in runs among actives behind Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter. With 1,623 runs, Damon is tied for 41st all-time — and he is bearing down on a number of Hall of Famers: No. 29, Mickey Mantle, 1,676; No. 33, Joe Morgan, 1,650; No. 34, Cal Ripken Jr., 1,647; No. 38, Robin Yount, 1,632; and No. 39. Eddie Murray: 1,627.

Montero vs. Smoak: The debate continues

The Yankees can’t squeeze Jesus Montero onto their roster just yet, but they strongly believe that he will be an impact hitter, perhaps as early as next season.

Meanwhile, rival scouts and executives continue to question first baseman Justin Smoak, whom the Seattle Mariners effectively chose over Montero last year when they traded left-hander Cliff Lee to the Texas Rangers rather than the Yankees.

Smoak’s batting lines the past two seasons are frighteningly similar — .218/.307/.371 in 397 plate appearances in 2010, .220/.317/.387 in 410 plate appearances in ’11. But if Smoak cannot hit a good fastball, it sure looks as though Mike Carp can.

Carp, obtained from the New York Mets in the J.J. Putz trade at the 2008 winter meetings, is batting .323/.382/.500 in 136 plate appearances. His 13-game hitting streak is the longest by an AL rookie this season.

"He is their real first baseman, not Smoak," one scout said.

Jays' Lawrie: Destined for outfield?

Now you know why Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Brett Lawrie was my pick for AL Rookie of the Year.

In fact, I might have looked pretty smart by now if Lawrie had not fractured his left hand in late May just as he was on the verge of getting promoted from Triple-A.

The Jays finally summoned Lawrie on Aug. 5. In his first 29 plate appearances, he has produced a whopping 1.155 OPS, including his dramatic, go-ahead grand slam against the Oakland Athletics on Wednesday.

The sample, obviously, is small, but few doubt Lawrie is going to hit. Some rival executives, however, believe that he is too “tight” physically to stay at third — unlike, say, Hall of Famer Brooks Robinson, who was loose-limbed and had easy actions. One of those execs predicts that Lawrie, like the Brewers’ Ryan Braun, could move from third to left field.

Perhaps, but Lawrie looks good defensively thus far, especially considering that he began playing third only this season. He agreed to try catching after the Milwaukee Brewers made him the 16th overall pick in 2008 and then asked to move to second to hasten his rise to the majors.

The Brewers might regret trading Lawrie for right-hander Shaun Marcum, but not if they win the National League Central. Marcum is 10-3 with a 3.62 ERA. Lawrie seems destined to become the Jays’ first Canadian star. Good deal for both clubs.

Scouts skeptical of D-backs' Goldschmidt

Arizona Diamondbacks rookie first baseman Paul Goldschmidt has monster power, but he struck out 17 times in his first 40 plate appearances and walked only three times, batting .216/.275/.378.

“He’s Josh Phelps — an arm-swinger,” one scout said, referring to the former major leaguer who began his career with the Blue Jays. “His front foot doesn’t move. All he does is swing with his arms.

Phelps, 33, actually had an .815 OPS in parts of eight seasons but is now playing in Italy. The scout also said that Goldschmidt reminds him of former major leaguer Richie Sexson but that Sexson was a better athlete.

Another scout said that Goldschmidt might find success in the “lesser” league, meaning the NL. But the scout noted that Goldschmidt is a right-handed hitter with below-average speed — “a tough combo,” he said.

Around the horn

• Winning the Home Run Derby sure hasn’t disrupted Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano, who is hitting even better since the All-Star Game than he did before.

The Boston Red Sox’s David Ortiz told me that players who participate in the Derby can get pull-happy, leading to slumps. Cano, though, is a hitter who uses the whole field. Three of his five homers since the break have gone to the opposite field.

• Strange but true: The San Diego Padres have scored 40 more runs than the Giants while playing only one more game.

The Padres, Dodgers and Giants are the three lowest-scoring teams in the NL. The Diamondbacks rank third, and they’re not just a creation of hitter-friendly Chase Field. They are fourth at home and fourth on the road.

• Speaking of the NL West, I wrote in a column last week about how the Red Sox’s Adrian Gonzalez believes his increase in batting average is almost solely attributable to playing in more hitter-friendly parks as opposed to the dead night air on the west coast.

Well, Gonzalez also is benefiting from batting third in the Red Sox’s devastating lineup. Teams no longer can avoid him, and he is seeing more pitches to hit. Witness the decline in his walk rate: one every 7.45 plate appearances last season, one every 11.32 this season.

• The Rays are practically Padres East — they’re fourth in the majors in runs scored on the road and 24th at home.

Then again, a team with a $41 million payroll can’t have everything, and the Rays’ defense is by far the best in the majors, according to one advanced measure — defensive efficiency, which measures the percentage of balls in play that are converted into outs.

Maddon says Sean Rodriguez is the best defensive second baseman in the AL. Catcher Kelly Shoppach has thrown out 16 of 34 runners attempting to steal, or 47.1 percent — the highest percentage in the majors.

share

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

in this topic

Major League Baseball