I've been an Upton pessimist but...

[WicketMaiden]

Lots of things point to a good year from Upton: he finished 2020 strong; looks good at the plate this Spring, looks fit, healthy and agile; is it just me or does he seem more relaxed at the plate now he's hitting down the order (?); no niggling injuries disrupting his swing and his training routine. We think of him as an old guy but he's only 33 and should still have plenty left in the tank. Sure he can be as streaky as a cheap bacon sandwich and occasionally looks like a dazed mole just released into the sun, but when he's on a tear and carrying the team for a few games he's as fun as hell to watch. A hot version of J-Up hitting 5 or 6 in this line-up is going to be fun.

[Second Base]

On 3/23/2021 at 11:40 AM, WicketMaiden said:

Lots of things point to a good year from Upton: he finished 2020 strong; looks good at the plate this Spring, looks fit, healthy and agile; is it just me or does he seem more relaxed at the plate now he's hitting down the order (?); no niggling injuries disrupting his swing and his training routine. We think of him as an old guy but he's only 33 and should still have plenty left in the tank. Sure he can be as streaky as a cheap bacon sandwich and occasionally looks like a dazed mole just released into the sun, but when he's on a tear and carrying the team for a few games he's as fun as hell to watch. A hot version of J-Up hitting 5 or 6 in this line-up is going to be fun.

Well said.

[tdawg87]

On 3/23/2021 at 2:40 PM, WicketMaiden said:

niggling

Racist.

[WicketMaiden]

29 minutes ago, tdawg87 said:

Racist.

Snowflake.

[Taylor]

Snowflake Rule 101: To call someone a snowflake, one must themselves be a snowflake.

[Hubs]

Upton’s contract fits this team that’s why I never believed that he would be released. Pujols almost certainly will not be resigned and so there will be 1B and DH AB’s available when Ohtani is pitching. They have plenty of candidates for the 1st base job but who gets those 60 DH games? It’s gonna be Upton, leaving the two young corner outfielders to get 80 games in left 10 games in Center and 160 in right. That’s almost full time for Adell and Marsh in 2022.

[ScottT]

I'd love to see Upton hit .250/.300/.500.  And I wouldn't be surprised if he does. Especially considering he will probably have a lot of runners on base in fron of him. 

[sammyscioscia]

Upton will hopefully be that headache in the middle of the lineup that pitchers forgot about, "oh yeah this guy... ****".

He's also a Mariner killer.  We need Mariner killers.

[tdawg87]

If Upton returns to form this offense is gonna be stupid. 

He's streaky as hell. He's like the CJ Wilson of hitting: Frustrating to watch but in the end the numbers are there.

I'll take a .750 OPS and 25 homers. I don't think that's an unrealistic expectation.

[Ace-Of-Diamonds]

On 3/24/2021 at 2:26 PM, TaylorBot said:

Snowflake Rule 101: To call someone a snowflake, one must themselves be a snowflake.

more of a blizzard than a snowflake...

[angelsnationtalk]

I agree with everything.... As well as being pessimistic...

but

I'll say what apparently matters.... Spring Training doesn't matter. All depends what happens starting April 1st. 

[Stradling]

54 minutes ago, angelsnationtalk said:

I agree with everything.... As well as being pessimistic...

but

I'll say what apparently matters.... Spring Training doesn't matter. All depends what happens starting April 1st. 

Spring training results don’t matter.  But Upton looks different.  Ohtani looks different.  Cobb and Quintana look different.  These have nothing to do with stats and everything to do with the eye test.

[PattyD22]

1 hour ago, Stradling said:

Spring training results don’t matter.  But Upton looks different.  Ohtani looks different.  Cobb and Quintana look different.  These have nothing to do with stats and everything to do with the eye test.

Wholeheartedly agree Strad.  Watching Upton live this week, he just looked different.  He carried himself differently.  He was laughing, joking, serious when he needed to be, and looked very relaxed, and I’ve been going to Spring Training for years.  That hasn’t always been the case with Upton.

As for Ohtani, the same can be said for him.  Very relaxed, 100% healthy, probably for the first time in a few years.  These spring training reps for him were very important to build on for the season.

There are several others we can throw in, including Iglesias.  That play he made on Wednesday was simply insane, like a guy battling for a roster spot, even though he isn’t.  
 

The team looked really relaxed and different from seasons past.  I agree that spring numbers don’t really mean squat, but spring reps DO mean something.  Lots of positives to glean from this spring training.  I’m excited for the season to start.

[angelsnationtalk]

On 3/27/2021 at 7:10 AM, Stradling said:

Spring training results don’t matter.  But Upton looks different.  Ohtani looks different.  Cobb and Quintana look different.  These have nothing to do with stats and everything to do with the eye test.

They look different and I think we all wish it translates over. I just worry with the age/health of Upton and Pujols. They have both looked good, just pray for it to translate specially since Pujols have shined over Walsh and I'm hoping that Maddon won't just lean towards Pujols because he had a good Spring. Jose Rojas seems like a good backup plan.