"Diamondbacks right fielder Justin Upton turns 23 on Wednesday, still young in every sense. But approaching the end of his third full season in the majors, he sounds wise beyond his years.

Wise enough to realize that despite how much he already has experienced in the big leagues, he can view his so-so 2010 season as a learning experience.

"I've learned a lot, man," he said. "It's been a rough one."

That this statement doesn't sound like a stretch - this is a 22-year-old who has 17 home runs with five weeks left in the season - speaks to the level of expectations placed on Upton, not to mention those he places on himself.

"It's a season of ups and downs; you learn that the more you play," he said. "I've gotten a few years under my belt now where I've seen pretty much everything that can be thrown at me. I've been on the DL twice. I've had bad years, high-strikeouts years. I've had a good year, also. I've seen a lot.

"This game throws a lot at you, and you've got to continue to battle through it."

He said this season has taught him how to better handle failure. In reality, his year has been nothing close to a failure. It's more that he just hasn't taken another step toward superstardom, a step many expected after his breakout season in 2009.

He has a .268 average, .352 on-base percentage and .442 slugging percentage, numbers that are about average - or at worst a shade below average - for his position. Not a disaster, but not the year the Diamondbacks had hoped to get, particularly after signing him to a $51.25 million deal before the season.

"I have high expectations for myself, and sometimes I'm a little hard on myself for not achieving what I want to," he said. "I think in a way that's a good thing. The battle in a nutshell is being able to channel that in a different way and make myself better, even when things aren't going great.""