gold star for USAHOF

Justin Upton

Justin Upton began his baseball career with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2007, at the age of 19. By 2009, he was the starting leftfielder and an All-Star for the first time, after hitting over .300 for the first time and belting more than 25 home runs.

Upton continued to perform well, with a decent 2010 season where he hit 17 home runs and had an OPS of .799, and an excellent 2011 season where he hit 31 home runs, had an OPS of .898, and finished fourth in the MVP voting. He won his first Silver Slugger award that year.

In 2013, Upton was traded to the Atlanta Braves, where he played with his brother Melvin for two years and added another Silver Slugger award to his resume. He hit 27 home runs and drove in 102 runs during his time in Atlanta.

After being traded to the San Diego Padres in 2015, Upton continued to perform well and was named an All-Star once again, hitting 26 home runs and having an OPS of .790. However, he became a free agent at the end of the season and signed with the Detroit Tigers.

Upton had a productive 2017 season with the Tigers, hitting 31 home runs and being on pace for more. However, the Tigers traded him to the Los Angeles Angels mid-season, where he had his best year yet. In 2018, Upton hit 35 home runs, had 109 RBIs, and an OPS of .901. He earned his fourth All-Star selection and third Silver Slugger award that year.

Unfortunately, Upton struggled with patellar tendinitis in 2019, which greatly impacted his performance. He played for the Angels until 2021 and had a brief stint with the Seattle Mariners in 2022. Throughout his career, Upton amassed 1,754 hits, 325 home runs, and 1,003 RBIs.

Justin Upton was the number one draft pick in 2005 and to nobody’s surprise he was able to crack the Diamondbacks roster as a teenager.  Upton would quickly take over as team’s starting Leftfielder and in 2009 he was named a National League All-Star, a feat he would repeat for Arizona in 2011.  That was his best season for the Diamondbacks where he smacked 31 Home Runs with a .529 Slugging Percentage while finishing fourth in MVP voting.  Upton would also have two 20-20 seasons for Arizona, and had 739 Hits, 108 Home Runs before he was traded to the Atlanta Braves in 2013.