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: Taggin’ Fool vs. Glove: Optional
Taggin’ Fool
Editor’s Pitch: This astounding tag has gotten a lot of well-deserved publicity. Freeman’s throw was awful on what should have been an easy pick-off play, but through an instinct unique only to him, Simmons was able to apply the tag where he caught the ball–between his legs. I can’t find a clip of it, but I remember later on in that broadcast they showed an angle from centerfield that clearly showed Simmons got the tag down. How he was able to do that will remain one of life’s great unsolved mysteries.
Last Round: Taggin’ Fool beat Run At Your Own Risk 35-23.
Glove: Optional
Editor’s Pitch: In Minnesota this year, that will be a hit against Ervin Santana. Last year in Atlanta it was top of the 5th, one down. The catch itself is insane enough, with Simmons making the call to barehand it to give himself a chance to throw the runner out. Then, when the ball bounced slightly differently than he seemed to be anticipating, he stayed with it and nailed the runner with a perfect throw. Perfection on a diamond.
Last Round: Glove: Optional beat 180Ëš Genius 24-19.
@previous thread
get on my level!
Definitely chose Taggin’ Fool. Great play by the base umpire to call that. He had to have great awareness of Simmons’ talent to realize that was even possible.
@previous thread
Well played, Mauer.
Shoveling snow,
listening to baseball,
life is good
DOB: “Fredi G wasn’t sure but thought Minor would see Dr. Andrews this coming Monday”
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: maybe we should take a look at some of the fellows on our training staff and think about either supplementing them with others, or replacing them altogether. Our butcher’s bill is reaching Rickey Henderson-like proportions.
Maybe. I certainly understand the gut reaction to feel this way. We have the accumulation of some evidence, but I have a hard time knowing if this isn’t just bad luck in the random distribution of injuries. What is the mechanism behind the theory that the Braves staff is actually bad at keeping pitchers healthy (and how is it that Roger never comes in for criticism on this)?
Because it isn’t just pitchers.
Speaking of arm injuries, Hector Olivera has a damaged ulnar collateral ligament and might need Tommy John.
The Braves’ training staff is so bad that even players they’re only interested in get hurt!
Also, the Braves signed Peter Moylan to a minor league deal, because why not.
Good for Moylan, maybe Roger can work his magic again
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2015/03/hector-olivera-may-have-ucl-damage.html
That’s going to be costly. Maybe we can afford him now
I would love to get Moylan back doing what he did a few years ago. If Olivera has TJ surgery won’t that make him a lock for the Braves at some point?
I bet the Olivera news led us to increase our bid.
I hear the team is looking for someone to be recovery buddies with Cakes.
I would have loved to have had a Hector on the Braves.
FWIW, his camp is denying all of these claims. Sad he’s passed 4 physicals with no issues.
Love having Moylan back in the organization. He and Medlen worked out together over the offseason, and Meds had been lobbying the Royals to sign him. I’ll be rooting hard for him to make it all the way back. A few Moylan appearances in September would be really fun.
Olivera’s price may have just dropped and what do we care if he has to miss a year?
Darvish leaves ST game early yesterday, will have MRI today, and results tomorrow. Minor had tightness 2 weeks ago, again last week, and has yet to be seen. Does this bother anyone else?
Does anyone else think Dr. James Andrews is secretly a lost Groucho Marx character?
#18 – Yes, its ridiculous. Not sure why the Braves are waiting.
“Uggla lines a single to CF on the first pitch he sees from #Braves Wood”
Minor – ugh. And a shoulder to boot. Hell.
Well Fotly, Bueno. Time to step up kids
I’m pulling for Jace Peterson to win the 2b job.
Uggla…
@21 – Were there any pitches before that that he didn’t see?
I’m setting the over/under on EYJ plate appearances for the 2015 Atlanta Braves at 600.5.
Minor is scheduled to see Andrews on Monday. It’s a busy time for Dr. Andrews’ clinic. It won’t make any difference if he sees him Monday or last week. He either has surgery or he doesn’t. If he does, he’s out for the year. If he doesn’t, he’s trying to scrape by with a shoulder that seems by all evidence to be on the Tommy Hanson meat-grinder program.
@22
i’m pulling for Jace as well. Even if Peraza tears through the international league for two months, we could just move him to 3B once Jose Peraza gets the call. I’m assuming we’ll be dealing with the 2014 Chris Johnson this year. If not, I’d imagine that a guy who was drafted as a SS and played cornerback in college can play a plus left field. Here’s to hoping that Jace Peterson is a lefthanded Martin Prado.
@24
Post of the day!
@27
This is why he should get some reps in left as well.
“Excuse me, I didn’t realize you had a degree in medicine—-are you a doctor?”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOsFMMjdHrc
@28
I have a feeling he’ll see plenty of time in the OF before 2015 is all said and done, unfortunately the OF mix is swollen (bloated?) with replacement level talent this spring.
This tweet from Bowman sent tears down my vheeks:
I didn’t know ol” Peanut had it in him, I’ll expect his resignation as official Atlanta Braves mouthpiece by morning.
@7, the reason that I blame the Braves training staff and believe they are not good at their jobs is that they frequently seem to miss glaringly obvious things. Most importantly, they frequently fail to determine that players who are badly struggling are have serious physical ailments.
A few greatest hits, off the top of my head:
• Dan Uggla apparently couldn’t see for two years.
• Evan Gattis discovered that he had been playing through a kidney stone when he was laid up for a staph infection.
• Jordan Schafer played through a broken wrist for an entire month, hitting the Mendoza line, before they discovered that he was badly injured.
And so on. When guys like these are in serious pain, they need to be checked out. And when they get checked out, the Braves team doctors need to be able to accurately diagnose what’s wrong with them. I don’t have confidence that they do.
@33 I also seem to recall them seriously mishandling a Martin Prado staph infection situation back in 2011.
Apparently Uggla played through and with a concussion at some point that went undiagnosed
Olivera has now been declared a free agent
The conspiracy theorist in me wonders if the Olivera injury rumor is being floated by one of his suitors to drive down the price. Paired with his mystery injury/illness from 2011-2013, it might be enough to spook a mid-market team that knows it can’t afford another bust free agent signing…
Yeah — if I recall correctly, Prado acquired drug-resistant staph while he was in treatment. And it basically stole a year from him.
Watching the Braves/Mets game on MLBtv right now, and seeing KJ back in a Braves uniform is fun. I was such a big KJ fan back in the day.
@mlbtraderumors: Hector Olivera Expects To Receive $70MM-Plus http://t.co/wFL8whNO4b
Damn, this Folty kid has some gas.
His clock already started correct?
His arb clock? I believe so. According to Cot’s Contracts, he appears to have 59 days of major league service time.
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/compensation/cots/national-league/atlanta-braves/
Well, Shelby Miller’s start today was…uninspiring.
@40 — Rotoworld is reporting that the Braves have an offer of “roughly” $50 million out to him.
@DOBrienAJC: My understanding is that the #Braves are not the team with a $50M offer on table to Olivera, contrary to one report making the rounds.
$50 sounds awfully high for the tight-fists who run our team, but I’d love to be wrong.
Agreed. I’d be surprised if we offered any more than $30m
Odd Fact: Coming into today’s UGA-Auburn hoops tilt, their all-time head-to-head record in basketball was 90-90.
In football, they stand at 55-55-8.
@33 I know all those stories, but they seem different than pitcher health issues. The two seem to be conflated in this narrative. My question was specifically in regard to pitcher injuries and what we think the medical/coaching staff is doing wrong. My opinion is that nobody has a good handle on what causes arm injuries, and we should be therefore hesitant to apportion blame.
Nicely phrased, cogent argument, Jay.
Prado picked up the MRSA problem in Miami’s (old, notoriously filthy) visitor’s locker room.
I’ll believe the “concussions stole my baby” story from Uggla when he contributes to a major league team again. Until then, it’s just the next in the “maybe I need to have Lasik” excuses.
Nice synopsis at Tomahawk Take, Ryan. Well done.
Dang, I’m effusive with praise today.
Thanks, coop!
I’ll believe the “concussions stole my baby” story from Uggla when he contributes to a major league team again. Until then, it’s just the next in the “maybe I need to have Lasik” excuses.
My instinct is to be critical of the Braves, but this is a place where maybe we could use a little of this kind of skepticism until we know more.
Sam’s line of argument, re: Fredi’s in-game decision-making, could apply here too: maybe the Braves medical staff isn’t so great at their jobs, but maybe they’re not appreciably worse than other teams’ medical staffs. I have no idea if anyone’s seriously tried to evaluate such a thing, or what criteria they’d use. It seems complicated, given that the players themselves have a real incentive to tough it out much of the time.
My opinion is that nobody has a good handle on what causes arm injuries, and we should be therefore hesitant to apportion blame.
Seems like there’s growing agreement that the uptick in TJs stems from young pitchers throwing more, and harder, at a younger age in order to get scouts’ attention.
New thread.
I’ll speculate that the majority of these injuries come from little league coaches teaching these kids how to throw curve balls at the age of 9 & 10. That and travel ball has them playing year round.