Atlanta Braves OF to go by Melvin Upton Jr. this season

Atlanta Braves outfielder B.J. Upton is no more. He will go by his birth name, Melvin Upton Jr., this season as he tries to get his career back on track.

It seems a member of the Atlanta Braves is really buying into that whole “life begins at 30” thing.

Known as B.J. Upton throughout his 12 years in professional baseball, the 30-year-old outfielder will be known this season as Melvin Upton Jr.

#Braves exec John Hart made passing reference to "Melvin" (B.J.) Upton, then confirmed player will go by Melvin Upton Jr, this season.
— Jeff Schultz (@JeffSchultzATL) February 22, 2015

Born Melvin Emanuel Upton, the one-time second overall pick in the amateur draft has to be hoping that a rebranding can rekindle his bat.

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Since signing a five-year, $75 million contract with the Braves in November 2012, Upton has been amazingly awful—as in a slash line of .198/.279/.314 in 267 games over the last two seasons, with 21 home runs, 61 RBI and a whopping 324 strikeouts in just 910 at-bats.

And that is after he “improved” in 2014 to .208/.287/.333.

Upton still brings speed—he was 20-for-27 in stolen base attempts last season—and is solid defensively in center field, but has an OPS-plus of just 66 over the last two seasons. That is the lowest in MLB for players with at least 1,000 plate appearances over that span.

Of the top 10 in strikeouts over that period, Upton has the fewest plate appearances (1,028) of any of them and is eighth on the list.

Upton’s career has been a tale of diminishing returns, however, since he hit .300/.386/.508 in his first full season in 2007. In his final five seasons with the Tampa Bay Rays (2008-12), Upton hit .248/.330/.416, but did average 18 homers, 69 RBI and 39 stolen bases a season.

It is an oddity that he has his two worst seasons while playing in the same outfield as his younger brother, Justin Upton, who was seemingly unaffected by it.

J-Up, the first overall pick in the 2005 amateur draft by the Arizona Diamondbacks, hit .267/.348/.478 with 56 homers and 172 RBI for the Braves in 2013-14. He was dealt to the San Diego Padres in December for a package of young players headlined—as it were—by infielder Jace Peterson.

The Braves had united the Uptons in January 2013 by acquiring Justin and infielder Chris Johnson from the Diamondbacks for utility man Martin Prado, pitcher Randall Delgado and a package of prospects.

As for Melvin Upton Jr., his career slash line has made an almost unprecedented downturn for a player so far into his career.

At the point he left the Rays, that slash line was .255/.336/.422—it is now .243/.324/.400.

Statistical information via baseball-reference.com.

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