Upton Quieting His Critics

Tampa Bay Rays center fielder B.J. Upton took a lot of heat this year. Upton, benched twice for a lack of hustle by manager Joe Maddon, drew the ire of many Tampa Bay fans for his seemingly lackadaisical approach to the game. As his performance has showed in the postseason, however, the Rays would not have made it to this point without him.

The road to stardom has taken longer than expected for Upton, a former infielder who was the premier prep player in the nation back in 2002. Years of switching positions—after several years of trying to stick at shortstop after getting drafted second overall back in ’02—may have set back his development offensively. He had moved around the diamond so many times, the St. Petersburg Times even featured a “Where’s B.J.? section in its sports page during spring training in 2007. Expected to fill a super utility role, similar to Chone Figgins, he finally found a home in center field after spending the first month of the season as the Rays’ full-time second baseman.

While the constant position shifting affected his offensive performance, Upton finally established himself as an impact offensive player at the major league level when he found a permanent home in center that May. At only 23 years old, he displayed an advanced approach at the plate and excellent on-base skills, batting .300/.386/.508, with 24 home runs, an .894 OPS and 82 RBIs. The speedster also swiped 22 bags, becoming one of the youngest players in history to join the 20-20 club.

In addition to his fine offensive season, Upton made strides in his outfield his defense as well. Using his tremendous athleticism, he quickly learned the nuances of the position on his way to emerging as one of the premier defensive outfielders in the American League.

Entering the spring training this March, the bar was then set high for Upton, who was expected to build upon his breakout campaign, hit for more power and emerge into an elite star. A shoulder injury, which went unreported until late August, prevented him from ever getting fully comfortable at the plate, however, and made it difficult for him to turn on any pitches thrown inside. His lack of power, combined with a few mental gaffes, made him an easy target for the boo birds at Tropicana Field—even though the Rays were enjoying their finest season in franchise history.

Perhaps if the critics knew about his shoulder problem sooner, Upton would not have been such a misguided favorite target for local talk radio hosts. It was fairly apparent that something was not right, as nearly all of his nine homers during the regular season were hit to the opposite field. He simply could not do anything with an inside pitch, yet his did not stop the talk show callers, and even hosts, from bashing his every move.

Although Upton did not replicate his 20-homer performance from ’07, though, he still had a fine, underappreciated season at the plate. In fact, most of the flack was not merited, despite what was said about him on ESPN. Outside of R.J. Anderson over at DraysBay, most writers considered his season a disappointment. In reality, he actually was one of the Rays’ most productive hitters in an offense that finished ranked in the middle of the pack in several important offensive categories. He batted only .273, but—due to his excellent ability to get on base, thus not making outs—his on-base percentage remained at a solid .383 clip and he led the club with 97 walks. His OPS dipped more than 100 points (.784), a clear result of his severe drop in slugging percentage due to the decrease in power production—only nine home runs.

Upton also improved his defense in center field, making out-of-range plays on a consistent basis. He s

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