Justin Upton heard all the talk when he got off to a slow start this season and speculation grew that the Arizona Diamondbacks would send the 21-year-old right fielder back to the minors for more seasoning.
Upton used the negativity as motivation.
It fires you up to a certain extent, said Upton, who opened the year in a 1-for-17 skid. At the same time, you just kind of laugh at it, because the same people writing it dont know what its like. You cant even flinch about it. Theyve never been through it, theyve never done it, so anything they say isnt even remotely credible when it comes to a guy struggling.
He slowly began to come around. By the end of April he was hitting .250, and he raised his average to .346 with a torrid stretch in May.
He didnt panic, Arizona manager A.J. Hinch said.
Upton has cooled off – hes hitting .306 with 12 homers and 37 RBIs – but now the only speculation is whether hell make his first All-Star game appearance in St. Louis next month. Upton wasnt among the NLs top 15 outfielders when the latest voting results were released Monday but could be chosen by NL manager Charlie Manuel to represent the Diamondbacks.
Upton, the younger brother of Tampa Bays B.J. Upton, is among the few bright spots in a dismal season in the desert.
The Diamondbacks, who were off Monday before opening a six-game trip at Kansas City on Tuesday night, are 27-37 and trail the Los Angeles Dodgers by 15 games in the NL West. The Diamondbacks have had worse records on June 15 only twice before – in their inaugural 1998 season and in 2004, when they went on to a franchise-record 111 losses.
Unlike the Diamondbacks, who have failed to live up to the hype generated by their 2007 division title, Upton has matched the expectations hes faced since he was a high schooler in Chesapeake, Va.
Upton stood out in the 2005 draft, even on a loaded board that included Alex Gordon, Ryan Zimmerman, Ryan Braun and Troy Tulowitzki.
He was a rare consensus first pick, and that was a great draft, said Arizona general manager Josh Byrnes, who took over after predecessor Joe Garagiola Jr. drafted Upton.
Upton was drafted as a shortstop but soon moved to the outfield because the clubs first pick in 2004, Stephen Drew, looked like a fixture at shortstop.
Upton and his brother B.J., the second pick in 2002 by Tampa Bay, are the highest-drafted siblings.
Uptons upbringing was among the reasons the Diamondbacks gave him a $6.1 million signing bonus after several months of negotiations. The club thought Upton was mature beyond his years.
Any time youre going to give a large sum of money (to a prospect), you have to have the physical attributes, the mental toughness that hes shown, Hinch said. You like to see the defining characteristics of a star player on all facets – on offense, on defense, on mental makeup – and hes excelled in those. Theyre really showing now.
Uptons mental toughness helped him when he tasted adversity this season.
Hes dealt with extensive expectations from age 13 on, Byrnes said. I think that has helped him when he went through the initial struggles this year. Hes mature. He has a lot of confidence.
After 231 games in the minors, Upton was promoted to Arizona in August 2007. At 19 years, 342 days, Upton was the youngest player to appear for the Diamondbacks. Five days after his debut, he was a single away from becoming the youngest major leaguer to hit for a cycle.
Less than two years later, Upton has become a fixture in right field. And after a slow start, no one is suggesting Upton needs more time in the minors.
Upton didnt buy the talk in April, and he smiled when he was asked about it last week.
On a smaller scale, Ive been through struggles before, Upton said. Its a part of baseball.
Sometimes it clicks right away, sometimes it doesnt. But having confidence in yourself and knowing what you can do, that gives you peace of mind when youre going through times like I was.
