Just fifteen days after his major league debut, Shae Simmons already is hitting his stride — or so it seemed.
In the one inning Simmons pitched Friday night, he allowed two of the Angels’ three runs. And of his 27 pitches, 16 were strikes.
“I mean I can learn a lot from that. I made some good pitches and I faced good hitters that have been in the game for a long time and that’s why,” Simmons said. “It’s because they learned to pick up tendencies pitchers have so they can sit on certain pitches and certain counts. So I’m just trying to learn how to avoid that and make every pitch the same.”
Simmons ended his eight major league appearance with the lowest ERA of all Braves who pitched Friday, 1.50. In the eighth inning, catcher Evan Gattis joined him on the pitching mound for a quick chat.
“I kind of switched up signs maybe just in case in that situation,” Gattis said. “He’s always up in high-pressure situations and he did great today. Jam job here and there. That could have gone either way.”
Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez maintains he’s happy with Simmons’ performance in the past two weeks, despite having given up the first two runs of his major league career Friday.
“I think every single one of his games it’s been something happening behind him or people being on base. He’s handled it with flying colors,” Gonzalez said after Friday’s win over the Angels. “We got him a little bit of a jam there but he did a nice job getting those two hitters out. That was a dangerous spot there.”
In the six innings he’s pitched since his May 31 debut, Simmons has managed to impress fellow pitchers too.
“Even though he came in with no major league experience, he’s known how to control his emotions especially in pressure situations,” Avilan said. “I think more than anything it’s because he has a lot of confidence in his pitching quality and because of the versatility he has at the mound. All those things give him confidence in those types of situations.”
But Avilan isn’t jumping to offer advice from his nearly two years in the big leagues, mainly because he doesn’t think Simmons needs it.
“I haven’t really told him anything,” Avilan said. “I think right now he doesn’t need anyone to tell him anything because he’s doing a great job … we just need to let him keep on doing his job.”
Simmons said he’s made some adjustments on his own after Friday night’s game. But he maintained he’s only worried about his next pitch to his first hitter.
“Honestly I’d rather get exposed sooner than later that way I can figure it out and work on it now and correct everything I need to correct.”
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