Three hours before the Los Angeles Angels took the field Saturday in Seattle, Mike Trout and Justin Upton lounged inside Safeco Field's visiting clubhouse. A question about his new teammate occurred to Trout.
"Hey," he said, "when's the last time you hit outside?"
"Psssh," came the reply.
Upton later estimated that he has hit outside _ taken batting practice _ only once this season. He has not done it since the Angels acquired him from Detroit on Aug. 31. Earlier in his 11-year career, he said, he took batting practice before every game.
That began to change in 2014, and Upton said he now prefers to do all his hitting drills within indoor batting cages.
"I realized that I get better work done in there," he said. "I just like to work at a different pace. Out there, it's just rapid-fire repetitions. I like to work more controlled, more meticulously."
That mirrors the rest of Upton's game. Once a hotshot teenage prospect prone to outbursts of passion and frustration, Upton has become a calming presence, a man who says little but can be quick with a quip. He desires to be dependable, not particularly noticeable.
"He'll be that veteran guy if you need him to be," said Angels shortstop Andrelton Simmons, a teammate for two seasons in Atlanta. "But he doesn't go out of the way to do it, like addressing rookies and stuff like that."
Upton has collected more than 10 years of major league service time, though he turned 30 only late last month. All of that time in the spotlight changes a man. His wife, Ashley, once told ESPN Magazine that her husband "was so cocky when he was younger."
That was when he was 24. Now, Upton is living out of a hotel for his one certain month as an Angel, learning his teammates, hoping to help them into the American League wild-card game, trying to decide whether to opt in for four more years in Anaheim. And he's doing it quietly.
"The older I get," Upton said, "the less edgy I get."
