Arizona Diamondbacks: Justin Upton Is Not the Superstar We Expected Him to Be

Justin Upton broke into the big leagues for the Arizona Diamondbacks at the ripe age of 19. He jumped right into a pennant race with the Colorado Rockies and experienced the type of success that had the Major League Baseball world buzzing about him and his team. He was drawing comparisons to players like Ken Griffey Jr. and being pinned as a potential Hall of Famer.

Fast forward five years, and Upton is coming off his best season in the big leagues after hitting over 30 home runs and batting .289. He was finally starting to reach his potential.

Forty games into this season he is putting up Albert Pujols-type numbers. In any other season, a Diamondback fan would be ecstatic to hear this. Pujols has two home runs and is batting around .200.

The answer is no, Justin Upton is not the player we envisioned when he was drafted out of high school as a shortstop. He has become an underachieving, inconsistent baseball player that lacks the leadership and killer instinct it takes to ascend to superstar status.

First of all, one of the hardest things to do in any sport is live up to the hype. The expectations put on this guy were absurd. That being said, he has still massively underachieved. Yes, he is only 24 years old, but this is also his sixth season as a big leaguer and he should be dialed in by now.

Though it's still early in the season and everyone around him is in a slump as well, this argument is warranted as the team is falling out of the race well before All-Star break.

Diamondbacks fans cringe every time Upton swings at a low slider breaking away from him. The guy has struck out on that exact same pitch for six years now and has not made the adjustment to either lay off of it or pull a Tony Gwynn and put it between the two infielders. Every time I see that shoulder and hip fly wide open I want to send him down to Visalia just to wake him up.

Upton lacks that killer instinct that we see in all great athletes. It's that instinct that allowed Tiger Woods to sink those 12-foot putts when he needed a birdie on the last few holes of Augusta year after year, that eye of the tiger Michael Jordan needed to send a game into overtime at the buzzer.

Justin Upton has shied away from all of those moments in his career to this point. No. 10 does not have the "get on my back" mentality that it takes to be "the guy" for his team. Yeah, it's cute when the camera follows him to the dugout after a strikeout only to see him throw a temper tantrum by smashing his bat into the bat rack or spiking his helmet to the ground. While that has been ignored in previous years, it's time to grow up a little bit and start the maturation process.

Upton bats in the three-hole for the Snakes. There is no more important slot in any lineup than the third spot. With the exception of possibly one or two lineups, that spot is reserved for every manager's best hitter.

Upton has been in that spot in every game he has started this season with the exception of one, when Kirk Gibson moved him into the two-spot to get him out of his funk (to no avail, obviously). He has continued to strike out and is abysmal with runners in scoring position this season. He isn't living up to the role of a three-hitter, let alone a superstar or for that matter, an All-Star.

More than anything else, Justin Upton has not assumed a leadership role on or off the field. He has never been mentioned seriously as one that commands respect behind closed doors. Upton defers automatically to those who have more experience or seniority than he does (which isn't many players at this point).

It is increasingly frustrating as a fan to hear stories of how players like Derek Jeter, Jason Varitek, Jimmy Rollins or David Wright seized that role at a very young age, only for Upton to makes excuses to the media about how hard it actually is to drive in runs. Rather than taking responsibility for leaving those runners on base and vowing to work harder to make sure that happens less frequently, he tries to explain to the lowly fan how difficult it is. Rumors of Upton coming into training camp out of shape this year made this no easier to swallow. He possesses no quality that makes those around him better.

Maybe Upton needs his buddy Chris Young to hold his hand in order for him to succeed. Up to this point, Upton has failed his team and he has failed himself.

It has gotten to the point where a fan sitting in an office chair is bashing him for a few hundred people to read. According to the guy in the office chair, that's pretty pathetic.

My hope is that Upton eventually reverts back to the player that Arizona fans, including myself, loved to watch play the hardest game in the world with our team in front. But at this point, I have no such hope for you, Mr. Upton.