Melvin Upton Jr. out 4-6 weeks with foot inflammation
Melvin Upton Jr., the baseball player formerly known as B.J. Upton, is going to miss a few weeks of baseball thanks to inflammation in his left foot. The Atlanta Braves announced the news this afternoon through Twitter:
Test results reveal inflammation in Melvin Upton’s left foot. Foot will be in short leg cast for 2 weeks, then walking boot for 4-6 weeks
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) February 27, 2015
This is clearly disappointing news for the player and the team, but given
B.J.’s
Melvin’s track record with the team the past few seasons, and the recent name-change situation–it’s especially disheartening.
There has been no shortage of jokes made about this news on Twitter (shocking I know), but there’s really nothing good that will come of this, unless you subscribe to the idea that the Braves were only playing Upton because of his salary and that another player would do a better job in his stead.
There are a number of players who might win the starting center field job in Spring Training, but none of them really scream success:
Eric Young Jr., Zoilo Almonte, Todd Cunningham and Eury Perez are the candidates to begin the season as ATL's center fielder
— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) February 27, 2015
I’d guess that a number of these players will split time at the position until Upton is given his shot once he’s able to get back on the field. Even then, this entire season might be a bit of a carousel for the middle outfield position.
According to Bowman, Upton’s best case arrival time at this point is early May:
Early prognosis is Upton will be sidelined until at least May 1. #Braves
— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) February 27, 2015