He knows what it's like to be expected to produce from the middle of a lineup, and knows what it's like to have a team need him.

He also knows what it's like to go through a slump, so when he talks about Justin Upton's current situation, his words carry some weight.

"It's a tough pill to swallow, obviously, because you're the marquee guy on the team and you get sat down for a couple of days," he told Arizona Sports 620's Burns and Gambo Friday. "I think Gibby and the coaches, they know exactly what they're doing with these guys."

Upton did not play in either of the D-backs' last two games -- both wins -- but is set to return to the lineup Friday when the team opens a series with the Oakland A's.

And the hope, of course, is that this time off will serve Upton well, that he'll bounce back and start to produce like the player everyone knows he can be.

"I think with Justin, they're still trying to feel him out a little bit," Gonzalez said. "This is the first time in his career, really, that he's facing some kind of adversity where they're telling him 'hey, you're not doing the job.'"

The Diamondbacks need Upton to turn his season around if they are to make a run in the National League, and we'll find out soon enough if the decision to sit him was the right one.