ATLANTA — Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez says he has considered asking center fielder B.J. Upton to work out his struggles in a minor league assignment.
Upton, signed to the biggest contract in franchise history at five years, $75.25 million, has a .146 batting average, 109 points below his seven-year career mark with Tampa Bay.
Gonzalez indicated that Upton has enough service time in the majors to refuse an assignment if he disagrees with the move.
“In my own mind, you think about those things, but really I haven’t gotten to that point,” Gonzalez said. “I think there’s some logistics — contractual things and that sort of stuff — that they might not be able to do it that easy.”
Gonzalez has spoken with Upton about his absence from the lineup but not about an assignment in the minors.
“He understands to a certain point,” Gonzalez said. “Like good players do, they want to play. We’ve had conversations and he’s making the adjustments, and we’ll see.”
Upton is hitless in the Braves’ past seven games. He was out of the lineup Friday for the second straight night.
Gonzalez credited Upton and struggling teammates Jason Heyward and Dan Uggla for taking extra batting practice four hours before the game.
“They work,” Gonzalez said. “You’ve got to really tip your hat and really root for them because they really work it, show up and bust their butts.”
Upton, Heyward and Uggla were out of the lineup in Thursday’s 11-3 win over Toronto. Heyward pinch hit in the seventh inning and reached on catcher’s interference before playing the rest of the game.
In the Braves’ 3-2 loss to Washington on Friday, Heyward was batting leadoff for the second time in his four-year career and first time since going 1-for-4 in a 3-1 win at Seattle on June 27, 2011. He went 0-for-4.
Heyward is 7-for-18 in his career against Nationals ace Stephen Strasburg. He wasn’t surprised that Gonzalez moved him to the top spot in the batting order.
“Anything can happen throughout the year,” Heyward said. “You can never count one thing out. You can never guarantee one thing. It’s a 162-game season, so anything is possible.”
