VIERA, Fla. — At some point in the past couple of years, Dan Uggla stopped seeing the ball like he used to. He saw it as it left the pitcher’s hand, then lost it, then picked it up again before swinging. The problem wasn’t confined to specific types of pitches, either.
“It was basically all of them,” Uggla said. “I wasn’t seeing it quite the way I was used to seeing it.”
The problem, Uggla later found out, was with his vestibular system, the part of the inner ear and brain that controls balance and focus in vision. Though he doesn’t blame the issue for his significant dip in performance over the past two seasons with the Atlanta Braves, he also can’t deny the fact that it existed.
This spring, after an offseason of treatment, Uggla said he has seen noticeable improvement in his vision. His only focus now is on making the Nationals’ roster, winning the starting job at second base and re-establishing himself as one of the league’s best, as he once was.
“[The Nationals] expressed they need help at second base,” Uggla said Sunday. “They said it’s kind of an open-competition type thing. I’m all about open competition. I’ve always enjoyed that. So we’ll see how it goes. I’m just trying to help this team get better and help them win any way I can.”
Uggla said many people believe his vision problems stem from the few times he was hit by a pitch in the head in 2012 and 2013. They say the problems are concussion-related. He is not sure of the exact cause and takes issue when the word “concussion” is used. He said it’s “kind of like an overblown statement.”
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“When you think of a collision at home plate or hockey players or football players, that’s not what was going on with me,” Uggla explained. “In a simple way, with my head still, I’m able to see perfectly fine. When my head starts moving around, whether I’m running or shaking around somehow, or landing on my feet different ways, my eyesight level dropped about eight or nine levels. It went from 20/15 to like 20/100.”
Uggla is a three-time all-star. Early in his career with the Miami Marlins, he was widely considered one of the best second basemen in the league. But over the past two seasons, he hit .171 in 694 plate appearances with 101 hits and 217 strikeouts. He was cut by the Braves in July.
In the following month, Uggla went to Las Vegas and met with Robert Donatelli, a physical therapist and orthopedic specialist who saw in him many of the same issues that had once plagued 17-year veteran Marquis Grissom. Donatelli asked Grissom to call Uggla and see if that was the case.
“I don’t know if anything’s going on,” Uggla told Grissom. “I hope I’m messed up, so you can fix me.”
“Yeah,” Grissom replied, according to Uggla. “You’re pretty messed up.”
Uggla flew back to Las Vegas three days later. He spent the entire offseason receiving treatment and, as he described it, retraining his ocular muscles.
“It was a gradual thing. It wasn’t just like, boom,” Uggla said. “Everything would start to become easy again. Not easy, but the way I remembered it. They do all kinds of stuff for balance. It was just a culmination of things. It’s hard to explain, but all in all, I feel really good.”
The Nationals acquired Yunel Escobar from Oakland this winter, and he is the front-runner to start at second base in 2015. Danny Espinosa, who previously started for the team at second base, is in the process of becoming a primarily right-handed hitter. Uggla also believes he is in the mix for that starting job.
When asked about the position on Sunday, manager Matt Williams said, “it’s not necessarily a competition, but we’ll look at everybody, and they’ll all get a chance to play.” General manager Mike Rizzo, who was Arizona’s scouting director when the Diamondbacks drafted Uggla in 2001, said the 34-year-old has a chance.
“He’s got to be the best second baseman in camp to win the job,” Rizzo said Saturday. “I’ve seen it in person that he can be that guy. Talent-wise, we know where he’s at. We know where he’s at character-wise. We’ll see if the skill set keeps up with the rest of the players. We’re going to go north with the best 25.”
That’s fine by Uggla. With his improved vision, he’s bringing the same mentality to this camp that he had in 2005, when Arizona chose not to protect from the Rule 5 draft and he was brought in by Miami.
“I’ve got to go in and win a job,” Uggla said. “I remember how exciting that was and how much fun I had doing it, and I’m looking kind of at that as the same situation as this. I’m excited about it. This is gametime for me. Coming in, spring training, getting ready, because I do have a lot to prove. I’ve had a rough last year and a half. I know that. I know what’s going on. But I’m excited about the opportunity that’s in front of me right now.”
• Tom Schad can be reached at tschad@washingtontimes.com.
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