"Dan Uggla spent several hours Thursday watching video of his swing: working on that problematic swing in the indoor batting cage at Sun Life Stadium and taking batting practice with the rest of the Braves before the night game against the Florida Marlins.

Then he found a seat on the bench.

In the midst of a season-long slump the likes of which he has never had to endure, the second baseman was out of the lineup for the third time in 14 days. "Just to give him a breather," Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said, using what's become his stock answer.

Uggla was 6-for-68 (.088) with one double and one RBI in his past 20 games before Wednesday, dropping his average to a major league-worst .170 and his on-base percentage to a National League-worst .232.

He was asked if being out of the lineup was harder to take against Florida, in his first trip back since the Marlins traded him to Atlanta in November.

"It's never a good day to get a day off, for me anyway," Uggla said. "It is what it is. I'm not swinging it [well], and Fredi's putting together the best lineup he can to try to win ballgames.""