Justin Upton’s great play is tolerable as long as D-backs keep winning
Apr 9, 2013, 10:23 PM | Updated: Apr 10, 2013, 5:33 am
For the haters, it has done nothing but strengthen their position. For the true believers, an unavoidably uncomfortable pall has been cast on the first week of the season.
Have you seen the start Justin Upton is off to?
It’s a silly question; like asking if you’ve seen the Peterbilt truck parked in your living room. Kinda hard to miss.
After a 4-for-4 night on Monday, Upton is now batting .423 with six homers in seven games and a robust OPS of 1.641. It won’t last, of course, but that’s not the point. In the rush to declare a winner of the trade, it’s real easy to point to the Braves. I’m pretty sure even Karl Rove would approve.
Or is it that simple?
After all, I could easily counter with a reminder that the D-backs have won five of seven to start the year. Or point out that entering Tuesday, the D-backs are tied for first in hits in all of major league baseball, 5th in runs scored, 6th in batting average and 9th in OPS.
They rank ahead of Atlanta in all of those categories.
I’d be a fool to use those stats as proof of a win for Kevin Towers and Gibby-Ball without the requisite reminder that we’re one week into the season. It’s early; an argument that applies equally to Upton and the D-backs.
In reality, nothing has changed. If you hated the deal, you still hate the deal. If you loved it, you still love it. Nothing has happened yet to swing the argument. That, of course, will change depending on who cools off first.
As long as the D-backs keep hitting and, more importantly, keep winning, the team and its fans can tolerate Upton’s hot start.
Even if it does make you a little uncomfortable.
