A glance at Justin Upton’s slump

Streak, slump, and anomaly are all resident to
baseball. Josh Hamilton is streaking, Albert Pujols is
slumping, and Phil Humber (1-2; 6.83 ERA) tossed a perfect
game a few weeks ago.

These things come and go. Hamilton won’t hit 92 home runs
this year, although his streak has him on pace to do so.
And Pujols won’t finish the year with a batting average of
less than .200 and less than 20 home runs.

You can’t read into a player’s streak or slump too much,
or you’ll draw some illogical conclusions (see above). So
take the following with a grain of salt.

I felt that there was a good chance that Justin Upton
would break out of his slump Friday night. He was facing
Madison Bumgarner and, prior to last night’s game, he was
7-for-10 with a home run, a double, and two walks against
the Giants southpaw. Instead, he finished the night 0-for-
3 with a strikeout.

Upton’s kryptonite this season has been low and away
sliders. Giants’ reliever Steve Edlefsen struck him out
with one last night, while Bumgarner managed to create
weak contact with low, outside offerings, which resulted
in soft groundouts to the pitcher and second baseman.

It’s not that Upton is getting robbed; he’s making poor or
no contact. In his last 16 games, the D-backs’ right
fielder has just three extra base hits and 18 strikeouts.
On the season, he has as many strikeouts as he does games
played.

But the most concerning part of the 24-year-old Upton’s
slump has to be his situational hitting splits. Thirty
three games into the season, Upton — who sports a career
.247 average with runners in scoring postion — is hitting
a dismal .087 with runners in scoring position. In those
situations, he has a .067 batting average on balls in play
(BABIP) and nine strikeouts in 23 at-bats. (See Gambo’s column for more on this.)

Having this kind of hole in a batting order spot that’s as
crucial as the three-hole should not only be concerning.
The lack of production from Upton should also offer a
partial explanation for the D-backs’ recent struggles.

Saturday night, Upton will see Giants righty Matt Cain,
whom he has a career .282 batting average against, with
five doubles, seven walks, and 12 strikeouts.

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