Dan Uggla did not get the start for the Braves yesterday, but did make an appearance as a pinch-hitter, hitting the game-winning two-run homer in the 9th inning. That gives Uggla 18 home runs for the year, and moves his batting line to .195/.267/.390. That’s pretty ugly for a guy who’s 9th in the NL in longballs.
Uggla hasn’t been walking as much this season as he used to, but he’s still above average at it. He’s striking out as much as he always had. The problem has been his batting average on balls in play, which is the lowest in baseball at .205 (compared to .291 career). Part of that is because Uggla is hitting fewer line-drives and more pop-ups this year, but it’s probably that things will pick up (and the already are – .297 BABIP in July). Still, if Uggla continues hitting at this level, he’s got a good chance of going down as having the worst 30 home run season ever (he’s on pace for right around that number).
The worst OPS for batters with at least 30 homers in a season:
Dave Kingman: .686
Tony Armas: .707
Dave Kingman: .717
Dave Kingman: .726
Tony Batista: .728
Uggla is at .657 right now, so there’s a bit of a cushion there for him to work with. Even looking at adjusted OPS (which moves Batista into first), Uggla is still ahead of the game. That’s probably not quite what the Braves were expecting when they gave him a 5 year, $62 M contract before the season.
Also last night: Ervin Santana took a no-hitter into the 6th inning, and ended up with 7.2 very good IP despite only striking out one Orioles; 14 runs in the 2nd and 3rd innings and 17 overall were more than enough for the Yankees to beat the A’s; Nelson Cruz drove in 8 as the Rangers beat the Blue Jays 12-2; and much more.
What to watch tonight: There are literally no really good pitching match-ups, but the Cardinals and Pirates are tied for second in the NL Central (a game back) and will face each other, while te number one team in the division (Milwuakee) goes up against the Giants. Full schedule with probable pitchers here.
