By Spencer Orlin,
When Dan Uggla was traded to Atlanta in the winter of 2010, there was a sense of optimism surrounding the Braves. The most offensively sound infielder in the league and a notorious ‘Braves-killer?’ I was personally ecstatic and definitely on the Uggla bandwagon. After a rough 2011 season and an absolutely abysmal 2012 season, he has completely fallen out
After riding the bench for two straight games this past weekend, Uggla was informed that he had officially lost his job as the team’s starting second baseman. While this may come as a surprise to those who know Uggla as the man who produced five consecutive 30+ homerun seasons (also the only time a second baseman had done this in the history of MLB), many Braves fans see his benching as a relief, as the slugger put together a .182 batting average with only five ho of graces with the Atlanta faithful and Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez.
meruns and 19 RBI’s in 45 games since the all-star game, along with an On-base Percentage + Slugging percentage (OPS) of .647, far below his career OPS average of .812.
Uggla getting benched is a move that undoubtedly caused some waves in the dugout but ultimately it was the right move for Gonzalez to make. With the shadow of last September’s collapse looming, this 2012 team has the unenviable task of making Atlanta forget about last season. If that means benching a slumping former all-star, then that’s what needs to be done.
