April 8, 2014
Ever wonder who is the worst everyday starter in baseball? I have and the name I come up with is B.J. Upton. The guy has been - and is continuing - to kill the Braves' offense.
Upton batted .184 last year in 391 at bats. He scored 30 runs and had 26 RBI's. His slugging percentage was .289. He finished 2013 with one hit in his last 36 at bats with 19 strikeouts in his last 20 games.
Upton's season-long slump has continued this year as he's 3-for-25 for a .120 average. He has one double. That's his only extra base hit. It's also his only extra base hit going back to his last 61 at bats. He's struck out 30 times during his last 61 at bats, so just about 50 percent of the time he's striking out.
Yet Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez continues to bat Upton in the No. 2 hole, perhaps the most important spot in the batting order for making contact. Atlanta goes into today's action having scored two or fewer runs in four of its six games.
Maybe Gonzalez has orders from Braves management to play Upton because the team gave him the biggest free agent contract in Atlanta history - $72.5 million over five years.
But if the Braves care about winning they need to realize Upton obviously isn't the same player he was in Tampa, not worry about the feelings of his brother, Justin, and accept the fact they spent their money foolishly. In other words, they need to move on.
How much more proof do the Braves need? Their battered starting staff can't carry such a weak-hitting outfielder no matter what his name or past reputation was.
(Editor's note: Nover's Daily View is written commentary provided exclusively to Pregame by Stephen Nover. Stephen has been on the sports gaming scene for 30 years. Stephen has parlayed a 20-year career as an award-winning sportswriter, part-time oddsmaker for legendary linesmaker Roxy Roxborough, co-host of the former Sunday Night Stardust Line radio show, teacher of a football handicapping class at UNLV and author of two sports gaming books and a book on fantasy football, into becoming one of the top handicappers in the country.
A native of Wisconsin, Stephen covered college and pro sports for daily newspapers in the Midwest, South and West, including 13 years at the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Stephen is The author of two sports gambling books, "Las Vegas Sports Beat" and "Sports Gaming Beat", along with a book on fantasy football titled, "Winning Fantasy Football."
Stephen taught a football handicapping class in the fall of 2004 at UNLV and was the co-host of the Sunday night sports betting radio show "The Stardust Line" for many years building up a lifetime of outstanding sources and connections.)
On the handicapping front, I have one NBA play going today. I am 187-145-8 (56%) on my last 340 NBA plays and have a hot 17-8-1 (68%) run going on my last 26 paid/free NBA plays. My play can be found here: /pregamepros/pro-bettor/bettor.aspx?id=7746#capper.
As always, no bad luck!