Justin Upton

Justin Irvin Upton (born August 25, 1987) is an American professional baseball outfielder who is currently a free agent.

Nicknamed "J-Up", he has previously played in MLB for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Atlanta Braves, San Diego Padres, Detroit Tigers, Los Angeles Angels, and Seattle Mariners.

He has been a teammate of his brother B. J. Upton with both the Braves and the Padres.

While primarily a right fielder throughout his career, Upton has since transitioned to left field for the Braves, Padres and Tigers.

Upton was selected first overall by the Diamondbacks in the 2005 MLB draft out of high school and made his MLB debut with them in 2007.

He has been selected to four All-Star teams and has won three Silver Slugger Awards.

Justin and B.J. are the only brothers in MLB to ever be selected with the first and second picks of the first round of any draft.

Upton was born to Melvin and Yvonne (née Gordon) Upton.

Yvonne worked as a teacher and Melvin worked variously as a scout for the Kansas City Royals, a mortgage broker and a college basketball referee in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference after playing both college football and basketball at Norfolk State.

Upton played baseball with his brother, Melvin Upton Jr., who is three years older.

The Upton brothers competed on travel teams with Mark Reynolds, David Wright, and Ryan Zimmerman.

Upton played against Cameron Maybin in Amateur Athletic Union play.

Upton was an all-district shortstop for Great Bridge High School in Chesapeake, Virginia, and won the AFLAC National High School Player of the Year Award.

Baseball America ranked him the best high school baseball prospect.

He verbally committed to play college baseball at NC State.

The Arizona Diamondbacks selected Upton with the first overall selection in the 2005 MLB draft.

He signed with the Diamondbacks for a $6.1 million signing bonus.

In his first professional season, Upton played for the Class-A South Bend Silver Hawks.

He began 2007 with the Class-A Advanced Visalia Oaks, but was promoted to the Class AA Mobile BayBears after hitting .341 with five home runs for the Oaks in April.

On August 2, 2007, Upton was called up to the big league team at the age of only 19, following an injury to everyday right fielder Carlos Quentin.

When he was called up, the Diamondbacks had star rookie Chris Young at center field, so Upton shifted to right.

Upton recorded his first career major league hit and run scored on August 4, 2007, in his third major league game.

His first career RBI came the next day, and his first career home run two days after that.

He almost became the youngest player ever to hit for the cycle on that day, falling just a single shy of the milestone.

He finished his rookie campaign with 2 home runs, 11 RBIs, 2 stolen bases, and a .221 batting average.

Despite a relatively disappointing start to his career (albeit with limited playing time), he broke out in the 2007 post-season, leading the Diamondbacks to a three-game sweep of the Chicago Cubs, making it to the NLCS.

He finished the 2007 post-season with an impressive .357 batting average, a double, a triple, a stolen base, and an RBI to go along with an impressive .571 slugging percentage.

In 2008 spring training, Upton hit over .300 with three home runs, 12 RBIs, and four stolen bases, earning the starting right field job over Jeff Salazar.

Manager Bob Melvin said that Upton has a "very high ceiling," and that it "wouldn't surprise him" if he had a great 2008 season.

Upton began the season and held the current title of being the youngest active major leaguer second to Clayton Kershaw as of July 31, 2008.

Upton collected his first big hit of the 2008 major league season on April 3.

In the sixth inning of a game against the Cincinnati Reds, he broke up a no-hitter in the major league debut of Johnny Cueto with a home run.

It was Arizona's only hit of the contest.

The next night (April 4), he went 3 for 5 against the Colorado Rockies in their home opener with his second home run of the season.

For the third consecutive ballgame on April 5, Upton homered while collecting three hits in a 7–2 Arizona victory.

His third home run made him only the third player ever under the age of 21 to hit home runs in three straight games.

On April 11, Upton homered off Jeff Francis of Colorado for his fourth home run of 2008 campaign.

The home run was in an 8–2 victory that was the seventh straight for Arizona.

The very next day (April 12), he and Arizona continued their streaks, with Upton going 3 for 3, hitting a three-run home run to dead center field at Chase Field and the Diamondbacks winning 10–3, marking their eighth straight win.

Upton had a career-high four RBIs on the day.