Upton bounces around lineup in search of spark
Originally published: May 8, 2012 - 2:01 pm
Upton, you know, has been the team's number three hitter for the better part of the last year, so the idea of moving him up in the order was one much of the Valley was simply not able to handle.
"He hasn't done well with runners in scoring position right now," Gibson said of the decision to make the change. "Moved him up. I did it last year for a day or two."
Gibson said one of the main reasons for making the move was to balance out what was going to be a very left handed-heavy lineup. He didn't want them all batting consecutively, and moving Upton -- a right hander -- in the order helped.
Then again, none of this happens if Upton was finding success at the dish. He's hitting just .234 on the season with three home runs and nine RBI. In short, he's struggling, and numbers like that don't belong in the three hole.
"He's been, at times recently, we thought that he was starting to get on track, but he hasn't been able to get on track," Gibson said. "I think Justin probably presses too hard, tries to do too much."
Gibson talked about how Upton had his struggles last year, too, even sitting out for a game in May before really taking off.
"We've been there before and you can't, like, try and do too much extra, put too much pressure on yourself," Gibson said. "It's a 'we thing,' OK, it's not Justin, it's we."
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