Melvin Upton Injury: Updates on Braves OF's Foot and Recovery

Melvin Upton's tenure with the Atlanta Braves has been marred by injuries and disappointing play on the field. He is hoping for a fresh start in 2015, but the center fielder formerly known as B.J. Upton is fighting a foot ailment. He expects to be out a week.

Continue for updates. 

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Upton Expects to be Out "a Week at the Most"

Saturday, Feb. 28

MLB.com's Mark Bowman provided comments from Upton, who spoke about his status:

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I went into it thinking [I would be out] a week at the most or a couple days and it would be fine," said Upton, who earlier this week replaced his nickname (B.J.) with his birth name (Melvin). "The doctor saw some things [he] didn't like."

[...]

"It's frustrating, but at the same time, I'm going to try to take the positive out of it," Upton said. "At least it's now and not in August, when we're in the middle of a pennant race. It's something we can get a hold of now, knock it out and hope it's not anything we have to deal with again.

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Upton Sustains Foot Injury

Friday, Feb. 27

According to the Braves' official Twitter, Upton's left foot will be wrapped up for anywhere from six to eight weeks due to inflammation:

Using that time frame, Upton won't even be able to start playing any games until the second week of April at the earliest. 

Even though Upton has done nothing in two years with the Braves, hitting .198/.279/.314 in 267 games, per Baseball-Reference, this is a devastating blow for the team. The Braves have undertaken a rebuilding effort by trading away Justin Upton and Jason Heyward, so Melvin Upton had to step up in their absence. 

Instead, the Braves will be forced to deal with the absence of Upton to start the season. The good news is that Atlanta has built up a surplus of outfielders with Nick Markakis, Eric Young Jr. and Jonny Gomes to give manager Fredi Gonzalez options to play with until Upton returns.