Andrelton Simmons standing on a baseball field with a glove on his hand is a web gem waiting to happen, and this winter Braves Journal is going to determine which of his gems is the best of his best—his Jadeite. To see the previous posts in the series, click here.
Round 3: Slip ‘N Slide vs. Superman
The Slip ‘N Slide
Editor’s Pitch: Simmons not only kept up with the path of the ball when his feet slipped out from under him, he caught it and threw it from his knee without any hesitation, as if he had planned to do it that way all along. His arm is strong enough that he got the out. From his knees. On the outfield grass. With a throw that was chest high when Freddie Freeman reached out to catch it. Chip Caray’s “Are you kidding me?” was spot on.
Last Round: The Slip ‘N Slide breezed past The Pop-Up Throw 26-11.
Superman
Editor’s Pitch: Take a screen shot at 0:28 of this clip, throw a cape on the man, and you’ll discover the true identity of Superman. Clark Kent has nothing on Andrelton.
Last round: Superman absolutely clobbered Low, 38-1.
Thank you, ‘Rissa. You’ve brightened this dreary off-season.
Yeah, thanks a lot. This is so much fun.
This one’s a real tough choice again, though.
Slip ‘n slide
Baseball is on MLB.tv right now, everybody. It’s so glorious.
Here is the 2015 Braves Spring Training TV Schedule. Enjoy until the real games start.
Someone may have answered this but is Toscano in camp?
@6
Nope. Not sure of the holdup.
Making Sense of Ozhaino Albeies
Thanks, Sam.
Interesting. We’ll see. Here’s hoping. I worry about undersized guys with no power, obviously, but I’m cautiously optimistic.
Albies is going to be fun to keep up with this year. Him and Jenkins.
Those two, Max Fried, and Rio Ruiz are the ones I’ll be following.
@12
Add Dilmer Mejia to that list. He’s the sleeper that I think will be Braves Top 5 prospect by next year.
Doubt there will be much to follow with Fried this year. He just had TJ back in August.
@11
I’m on Jenkins-watch, too. I don’t have any idea whether he’ll turn out, but dude gives a solid interview. More interviews please!
On the baseball side of things I’d like to see what Folty and Mallex to that list.
Warning: SEC Hoops Talk
Quite a scene in Athens last night. For obvious reasons, it was easily the most-hyped game at Stegeman in at least 25 years (an SEC-clinching finale vs. Chris Jackson/Shaq/LSU). And from a perspective 900 miles away, this was the first Georgia basketball game I’ve heard discussed in NY (with fans, on radio, etc.) since the days of Tubby Smith (a Sweet 16 game vs. Syracuse).
Despite ending up 3/17 from 3-point-land, UGA had ’em by 9 with 9 minutes to go, by 6 with 6 minutes, but Calipari finally settled on the obvious: Get the ball to #12, UK’s only big man with any real offensive game.
Of course, it didn’t help that UGA missed the front end of 3 consecutive one-and-ones down the stretch. Part of UGA’s formula for success this year is the old basketball adage, “If you make more free throws than your opponent actually shoots, you should be in good shape.” UGA usually does that, but… gotta make ’em in the big spots.
UK is big, deep & generally terrific. Cal deserves credit for getting players of that caliber to really dominate with D. It’ll take a team with a freaky streak of downtown shooting to knock them off. Possible, but I still gotta see it.
The Varsity was full of blue last night–put a damper on my PC and my kids’ FO’s.
Atlanta or Athens, Edward?
Athens
Congratulations. You won the location lottery.
@16, UGA needed more from Charles Claxton last night
a) It turns out that Spring Training stats do matter, kind of.
b) It’s looking like Wandy Rodriguez may not be the answer.
@16 – I would argue a more skilled version of UGA (e.g., UVA, Ariz, Wisc) could beat UK before a team of bombers. Auburn went 11/19 from 3 and lost by 35.
Mark Fox is an underrated coach. And Djurisic’s father is an international treasure.
Alex R., I can’t access that link. Can you give us the gist?
@22 is a great read, especially the call of epistemic humility.
#23
Generally speaking, Auburn couldn’t guard a stop sign. They give up more easy baskets than the Washington Generals. How they shot in that game didn’t really matter.
But yeah, it’ll take a good team that shoots really well, in addition to rebounding a little bit & somehow giving Kentucky one of those 5-plus-minute streaks of clankdom. Taking it to the basket on them is totally counterintuitive, but, more or less, it worked for UGA. If you can get to the FT line, you have a chance.
And if only for his 2 courageous games vs. UK, plus his awesomely Euro dad, Nemi Djurisic has won me over forever.
Jose Veras is Gwinning.
@24, it’s a really long slide deck that show correlations between various spring training stats and how the players wind up faring. In brief, some things matter more than others.
Try this link, though:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/gb92yc96fme14rr/spring%20forward.pptx
Jace Peterson had a good game.
Tough loss for the Bravos. T-minus 190-ish more games and counting until 2016.
And Minor’s been scratched with shoulder tightness….
Of course he has. I hate pitcher injuries.
Braves should send an “I told you so” to the arbiter from Minor’s hearing.
Heard on the radio that Wang was topping out at 87-88 mph…next please.
Minor developed a shoulder issue last year too, right?
Yes had shoulder issues that shut him down late in the season.
Sounds like we’ve seen the last of a productive Mike Minor. A recurring shoulder injury is bad news.
Should have traded Minor this offseason. I mean why not?
You can never have enough, huh?
@34
Put a ‘t’ somewhere in that sentence and you’d change the whole meaning to something positive!
Nice, Edward.
Dan Meyer, Braves rehab coach. The busiest man in baseball.
@39, Well played.
Minor had a shoulder issue in spring training last year, too.
I have lost all faith in the Braves entire medical and training staff. It seems like no one ever gets healthier on this squad once they get any kind of injury.
I am sure I am thinking irrationally but can’t shake it.
@44
Not irrational, there’s clearly a pattern in place here. Imagine if we just pissed away 50 million on a Dan Uggla who had a repairable ailment? On an unrelated note, stories are popping up allover the place about Fredi wanting to break camp with Peraza as his second baseman. Is anyone else hoping that this is enough to rock the front office boat to a point where his job security suffers?
Can’t blame Fredi for wanting to start the player with the most upside, arb clocks be damned. It could be his job on the line this season, though it won’t be his fault if/when the team sucks.
The average fan doesn’t understand arb clocks. I meant that if Fredi antagonizes the front office publicly, he may find himself on thin ice.
We should all want the best players on the field. If Peraza is one of them, put him out there.
I think Peterson will break camp as the starting 2B though. Callaspo or Johnson will be at 3rd.
Mike Minor is creeping dangerously close to Tommy Hanson territory.
I was excited about dealing him at the deadline for minor league hitters.
Our new guy Tyrell Jenkins should fit right in. What with initials TJ he is a natural.
I think Callaspo showed up over weight and out of shape.
Eithier wants out of LA. Do they want o swap for BJ?
Isn’t Eithier’s contract worse than Mel’s!
Tommy John surgery is recoverable. Shoulder issues are not. Exceptions in both cases, of course, but generally speaking you’d take 10 TJ cases over one shoulder case.
Isn’t Eithier’s contract worse than Mel’s!
Yes.
Andre: 18m/18m/17.5m/17.5m through 2018 (those being his age 33-37 seasons.)
Melvin: 14.5m/15.5m/16/5m through 2017 (those being his age 30-32 seasons.)
Andre has the argument that his worst year, last year, was the first time he’s posted an OPS+ below 120 since 2007, and even then his 97 was essentially league average and better than Melvin’s “bounceback” season at 75. But I would not swap those contracts. The Braves don’t need to be locked into a longer, more expensive deal, just to move from terrible to “not that bad really” in the OF. (Plus Ethier can’t play CF and is pretty bad defensively on the corners.)
@39
I have read and re-read #34 a few times now, and I must be dim. Where does one put the “t” to get the joke?
Embarrassing…
@48 Peraza won’t be the difference between this team being good or bad, so you might as well go for an extra year of control. I wish the rules didn’t encourage that kind of behavior, but they do, and the Braves would be stupid not to go for every advantage they can get.
New thread.
Minor developed a shoulder tissue last year too, right?
Rob: You aren’t the only one. I’m glad Alex posted it. Sometimes I’m not on Edward’s frequency.