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Upton Gets The Night Off To Clear His Head

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 13, 2008

CLEVELAND - B.J. Upton will have four days without a game to catch a break coming up next week, but Joe Maddon thought his No. 3 hitter could use Saturday off as well.

It isn't just that Upton is struggling at the plate, mired in a 7-for-34 slide over nine games and hitting .216 since June 15. Maddon noticed a little something in Upton's swing he wanted the player to address with hitting coach Steve Henderson, and he wanted to give him a day to work on it without having to jump straight into a game situation afterward.

"It's nothing new," Maddon said. "It's about something he had been doing, and I just wanted to give him a chance to think about it, digest it, see if it's what I think it is and then move on from there."

Upton seemed to appreciate the tip, saying "I definitely think he's right," and added that he had no room to object to a day off considering the way he has been swinging the bat.

"Lately I've been having guys out there on base in situations where we need runs and I haven't been getting the job done," he said, "so maybe it is time for me to take a little breather for a day and get myself back mentally."

Along those lines, Maddon said Carl Crawford likely will get today off.

The Rays' manager has noted mental fatigue setting in during the run-up to the All-Star break, but he said he understands why his players might be a bit strung out at the moment.

"I just think that we've gone after it pretty hard," Maddon said. "Getting up 23 games over .500 at one point, coming from where we've come from and how we've gotten to that point, it's taken a lot of energy of all varieties - whether it's mental, physical, etc. I'm not disappointed about what's going on right now. I know how hard our guys have played and how much they care."

Nonetheless, Maddon vowed to make sure his players get enough down time in the final 21/2 months.

"The biggest concern I probably have going into the second half is freshness, physically and mentally, for each one of our players," Maddon said. "That's the part that I want to track most closely."

GOOD AS NEW? Closer Troy Percival was pleased with the way his left hamstring responded during a 26-pitch bullpen session Saturday afternoon.

"It's the first time I pitched without having my leg taped up in six weeks, and it felt great," Percival said.

He'll head home to California today for the All-Star break, and he plans to throw another bullpen session there before possibly facing hitters Thursday at Tropicana Field. As he put it, that would set him up for activation from the DL on Saturday as the best-case scenario, but Maddon stopped short of that.

"He's going to want to push it - I know that and I appreciate that," Maddon said. "But I really don't want to have any other setback for the rest of the season if that's possible. He's way too important to our success long-term, so I just want to make sure on that one."

ROTATIONS: It isn't set in stone because of uncertainty over whether Scott Kazmir will pitch in Tuesday's All-Star Game, but the Rays have tentatively set their rotation to open the second half.

James Shields is slated to get the ball Friday against the Blue Jays, followed by Kazmir and Matt Garza, with Edwin Jackson and Andy Sonnanstine getting the first two games of the Oakland series.

Jackson, by the way, was available for relief duty Saturday and will be again today.

FARM FACTS: David Price improved to 4-0 for Montgomery with a seven-inning complete game. Price allowed one run, lowering his ERA to 1.38 in four Double-A starts.

Marc Lancaster

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