From the Field: Melvin Upton, of, Cleveland Indians

B.J. Upton was in camp with the Indians this past spring but did not make the team. This is…kind of a huge fall…for a player who was the #2 overall pick in the 2002 draft. I really thought that he had the chance considering the lack of competition, but he only hit  .189/.250/.297 in 40 plate appearances.

Upton had some pretty good seasons. He has six where his OPS+ was north of 100, highlighted by his 2007 campaign in Tampa when he hit .300/.386/.508 with 24 HR and 22 SB–good for an OPS+ of 136. And the Braves thought highly enough of him to sign him to a 5 year, 75 million dollar contract in 2013.

Unfortunately, he almost immediately regressed to a replacement level player for Atlanta. The reasons are complicated–injuries and poor mechanics seem to be the main culprit–and for the past couple seasons, he has been nothing more than an AAAA player. Some players just peak early, and it looks like Melvin was one of them.

Not always an easy autograph. I got him once he Cleveland–it was a total fluke–and he was very nice. We even talked for a minute.