Braves Talk: Andrelton Simmons

[TarHeelNation11]

Alright OOTB Braves fans, spring training is gearing up. I'm going to start a specific Braves discussion topic every week until the season starts. This week.....it's Andy Simmons. This might be an unpopular opinion but I've said it / believe it since halfway through last August.....

Deal. Him. Immediately. While his stock is still kinda high.

The dude cannot hit a lick. Well let me rephrase....he can hit, but he won't allow himself to hit because he thinks he's friggin Giancarlo Stanton. He swings for the fence every damn at-bat, regardless of the score, who's on base, what inning, etc. He looks like a clown at the plate -- he swings out of his shoes and nearly falls down because he's trying so hard to yolk a home run.

Some 2014 statistics are listed below. One stat line belongs to B.J. (Melvin) and one belongs to Simba....

................AB.....R......H......2B.....3B....HR....RBI....BB....SO....BA....OBP...SLG

Player A...540....44....132....18......4.......7......46......32.....60.....244....286.....331

Player B...519....67....108....19......5......12.....35......57.....173...208.....287.....333


Yeah.......Player A is Simmons and Player B is Melvin Upton Jr. In a season where B.J. had a historically bad season, Simmons STILL had a worse on base percentage and slugging percentage than B.J., and fewer double, triples, homers (despite him trying on every swing), and walks.

The Braves are off-loading a bunch of talent they wouldn't have re-signed (Heyward, Gattis, J. Upton, etc), so why not Simmons? I know he just got a new deal but he should've been dealt.

Yes, I know he is an outstanding fielder. But there are a ton of "good" to "very good" fielding shortstops out there who can hit much, much, much more consistently than Simmons. I'll trade 7-10 more errors a season for more consistency (getting on base) at the plate.

Someone prove me wrong (or feel free to agree).

 

[BillyL]

Andy Simmons sucks. Yes, I'm serious.

 

[coolwaterunc]

I'm against trading Simmons. He's the most outstanding defensive shortstop I've ever seen, and it appears the Braves are heading in the direction of pitching and defense over offense, which I agree 100% with. Andrelton is still trying to figure out how to hit, and I think he'll get it. As soon as he realizes he's not a power hitter, the better off he'll be. I think he's fully capable of being a .260+ hitter who can drive the ball into the gaps rather than over the fence. He was still trying to figure out how to hit in the minor leagues, but our shortstop situation at the time was so much in shambles that we had no choice but to bring him up and let him learn hitting in the big leagues. That isn't easy to do. Give him some time, and I think he'll be just fine. All he needs to do is be a league average hitter who isn't a liability with the bat because his defense is so spectacular. That isn't asking too much of him. I think last year was good for him in that he needed it to realize his approach must change. You'll see improvements going forward. He'll never be a stud at the plate, but he doesn't have to.

 

[TarHeelNation11]

coolwater,

I hear what you're saying, but I'm not buying that he's going to get things turned around at the plate. He didn't show any attempt to change his approach last season. How can you go at-bat after at-bat with the same approach, fail, and not at least try to change it? (this can be asked of most of the Braves team last year lol).

He's really, really good defensively, I know that. I know his WAR and run-prevention stats and all that, but in baseball, you ultimately get paid for your offensive production. Look at Heyward for a prime example. The dude excelled at every aspect of the game.....except for hitting for power (and hitting consistently, in general). Was part of that due to the Braves' inability to stick him in a good spot of the lineup? Yes. But the point remains that him being an excellent fielder and base runner was not enough to justify re-signing him after this season.....because he was not producing enough at the plate. Yes, the Braves are trying to turn back into a team that puts a priority on pitching and defense, but like I said in my original post, "good" to "very good" fielding shortstops are a dime a dozen. You could go to Cuba right now and pick out 3 players off the street who could field at an acceptable MLB level at SS, but still hit more consistently than Simmons.

I'd love for Simmons to prove me wrong, but his stubbornness last season annoyed me to no end. The dude hit so many damn pop fly outs because he was trying to smack homers every at-bat. I have serious doubts that the light will ever go on for him at the plate.

He's a waste of space in the lineup right now, period. You already have one big waste of space in B.J.-Melvin, you can't afford another one....and I'm not even mentioning Bethancourt yet. Deal him before clubs start to think "hmm....maybe his awful bat outweighs his outstanding fielding"

 

[coolwaterunc]

If I believed last year is going to be the norm for Simmons, then I would agree with you. I just think he'll be better than that. He's shown flashes of who he needs to be from time to time, especially his first season. He just needs to stop screwing himself into the ground and focus on just hitting the ball. Last year, frustration boiled over for everyone and the whole team fell into bad habits. I'm predicting a .250 average for Simmons this year, and that's all he really needs to do since his defense is extraordinary. Nobody can tell me he isn't capable of doing that.

I agree about Bethancourt though. I just don't see it with him. From what little I've seen him, he just seems like a marginal major league player to me. One of those AAAA types.

 

[TarHeelNation11]

I respect your opinion and I think we ultimately agree -- if he continues as bad as he was last season, he needs to go. You're just more hopeful that he'll get it turned around than I am. I will grant you that last year probably had an ill effect on every Brave at the plate. Even Freeman was awful by his standards last year -- lack of clutch hitting. So perhaps this year can be a fresh start.

However, I disagree that Simmons just needs to be a .250 hitter. I mean, he hit .244 last season. He needs to hitter close to .280 in my opinion. It's only acceptable in 2015 to hit .250 if you're bopping 30 home runs. He needs to get on base as much as possible. I mean where on God's green earth is he going to hit this year? 7th? 8th? He needs to get on base so that the pitcher can bunt him over and whoever's hitting leadoff can punch him in......he needs to not hit pop fly after pop fly to the shortstop or second baseman.

 

[gteeitup]

i'm so numb to the braves right now...they clearly have an agenda to not make a push until 2017...as a life long fan, they are causing me to also not make a push until 2017.

 

[coolwaterunc]

For some reason, I was thinking hit .224 last year. Not that .244 is good, but .224 was in my head for some reason. Meh, whatever, I'll give him .265 this year. I think that's respectable.