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For Once, Upton Happy To Swing And Miss

Tribune photo by CHRIS URSO

B.J. Upton said he felt no pain in his surgically repaired shoulder after going 0-for-3 in his first spring training game on Thursday.

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By JOE HENDERSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 19, 2009

PORT CHARLOTTE - The exhibition game between the Tampa Bay Rays and St. Louis was going on Thursday afternoon before a full house at Charlotte Sports Park. A couple of hundred yards away on a back field before a handful of witnesses, though, the action was at least as intriguing. That's where B.J. Upton had his first swings in a game this spring.

He was designated hitter for the Rays Triple-A affiliate from Durham, but the fact he was in a game at all was much more important than the team he played for. The Rays have held him back all spring as he recovers from off-season surgery to his left shoulder.

He went 0-for-3 against Orioles prospect David Hernandez – like that matters.

"The timing was there," he said.

In fact, Upton's high point – in his mind – may strike you as a little strange at first.

"My biggest thing was swinging and missing," he said. "I did it, and after that I really didn't care what happened."

Well, swinging a bat through the zone at game force and not making contact can put stress on a shoulder. So it was a good thing when he struck out swinging on his first at-bat and felt no pain. Now it's just a question of how quickly Upton can be ready to play when the games matter.

Most believe that won't come until the second week of the season, after the Rays open with a 6-game trip to Boston and Baltimore.

Come Back Healthy

If it means having him healthy, missing a few games isn't much of a price to pay after watching him struggle to play last season with a torn labrum. He had just nine home runs and 67 RBIs – sharp drops from the season before. This was much more than a sophomore slump. Balls that he crushed the year before died on the warning track.

"There wasn't much pain; just the strength wasn't there," he said. "There were days when it was a little sore, but nothing I couldn't handle. Just the [lack of] strength wouldn't allow me to swing the bat the way I wanted to.

"And there were some balls I wouldn't swing at because I felt I'd hurt it again if I did swing at them. I was trying to stay on the field strictly for defense."

Although he was outstanding in post-season play with seven homers, he had surgery less than two weeks after the end of the World Series and began shoulder rehabilitation. When he returned this spring, the Rays were in no mood to rush him. He didn't appear in the field until Wednesday, also in a minor league game, and that led to Thursday's step.

"Those guys are out there having fun and I have to be in the training room or on the back field working out when you really want to be with your teammates," Upton said. "Those are the guys I'm going to be around for the next six months. I'm in the clubhouse with them, but being on the field with them is totally different."

Upton has been around the Rays so long, it's hard to remember he has just two full seasons in the big leagues. Everything he has done has been magnified since the Rays took him with their first pick in the June 2002 draft.

He struggled with controversies on and off the field, and didn't find a position where he excelled until landing in center field in 2007. Once he did, though, Upton played the position like he had been there for years. His arm is a potential highlight reel on every throw to the plate, and manager Joe Maddon is convinced that a healthy Upton can be a difference-maker in the middle of the lineup.

"He's not even close to realizing his full potential," Maddon said.

More At Ease

If Upton is struck by no new calamity or shoulder setback, fans might finally see something close to that full potential. He is finally settled into the lineup, a fixture. That hasn't happened since he got here. Even in 2007, he played 48 games at second base before finding a home in center. If he's healthy, things are settled enough finally to let his talent take over.

"He can just turn a game around in a variety of ways. He's going to make the great play on defense, he's going to throw somebody out, he's going to hit the ball over the wall far, he can steal a bag. He can impact the game in so many ways when he's healthy," Maddon said.

"Last year he was pretty much relegated to the defensive side of things. He didn't hit necessarily as well as he could, but he was still a force because he accepts his walks on top of that. He gets out there. His base-stealing has gotten a lot better; he makes better decisions. He impacts a game in every way possible."

Before he could do that this season, though, he had to get Thursday out of the way.

Three up, three down. He struck out the first time, then grounded out, and finally was retired when a line drive ricocheted off the pitcher's glove to second base.

It was a relatively ordinary event, all things considered. That's just the way he wanted it after coming to camp knowing it would be this long before he got into a game. It was over and the relief showed. The relief at knowing the hardest part was over.

"You kind of expect it, but if you've never been in this situation you don't know what it will be like. It's been tougher for me coming in here and watching these guys get ready for a game and my day is pretty much over," he said. "Other than that, man, I'm just happy to finally be getting back out there."

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