Andrelton Simmons wasn’t kidding when he said Wednesday morning he was “game ready” after 3 1/2 weeks at the World Baseball Classic.
Hours later the Braves shortstop doubled and hit two home runs in four plate appearances in a wild 18-9 Braves win against the Pittsburgh Pirates, his first Grapefruit League game since Feb. 23.
“It wasn’t like he was on vacation,” Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. “He was getting at-bats and getting his work in, and he’s in great shape. He’s ready to go.”
Batting in the leadoff spot he’ll fill for the Braves, Simmons doubled off the center-field wall on the second pitch of the first inning and homered in the fourth and fifth innings before being replaced in the sixth.
“Yeah, I’m seeing the ball good,” he said. “It’s a nice start; it’s the way you would want to start.” He smiled and added “Hopefully I’m not wasting my home runs. Hopefully I still have a couple more.”
He also hit a couple of homers for the Netherlands in the WBC, including a pivotal homer that was as big as anyone could remember being hit for the Dutch in international competition.
Simmons had mixed feelings when he left for the WBC because the Curacao native wanted to represent his homeland, but hated leaving Braves teammates for a significant stretch of his second spring training and first as a lineup regular.
But he realized he made the right decision as he helped lead the Netherlands to a surprising berth in the semifinals.
“It was a great experience, and I took a lot from it,” said Simmons, who hit .333 (10-for-30) with three doubles, two homers and a .382 on-base percentage while batting leadoff for the Dutch, who advanced to the semifinals in San Francisco before losing to eventual champion Dominican Republic on Monday.
Simmons drew international praise. He played alert, often-spectacular defense, led the WBC with 10 runs in eight games and finished with 19 total bases, topped only by Dominican star Robinson Cano’s 25.
“We had a blast,” Simmons said. “I didn’t expect it to be that fun and didn’t expect the team to be that good. But we worked well together.”
No one predicted Netherlands would be one of two teams advancing beyond the second round from a group that included Japan and Cuba. But the Dutch beat the Cubans twice, and Simmons hit a tying two-run homer in the eighth inning of the elimination game in Tokyo. Manager Hensley Muelens called the 7-6 win “the biggest game in Dutch history.”
“It was crazy,” Simmons said. “When I was rounding third base and I saw everybody out (of the dugout), how excited they were, they transferred their energy to me. It was insane.”
No one seemed more excited after Simmons’ homer or the team’s tourney run than former Brave Andruw Jones, frequently the first player off the Netherlands bench to pump a fist.
“That was cool,” said Simmons, who grew up revering his fellow Curacao native. “He’s a legend for us. Playing with him was fun. I never thought I was going to play with him. He treated us, took us out to eat and everything. The leadership was there. He was making sure everybody was up in the dugout, keeping the energy up.”
Jones was particularly animated during the wins against Cuba and its flamboyant manager Victor Mesa, who said that Cuba was the better team after its first loss to the Dutch.
“He had something personal with the manager,” Simmons said, laughing. “They were at each other.”
Simmons was asked to compare the atmosphere with the Wild Card game against St. Louis at sold-out Turner Field in October.
“It’s pretty much the same,” he said. “Pretty intense. I mean, the Cubans … it got personal the second game. Real personal. The (Cuban) manager just ignited us. He was saying some stuff during the last game. So everybody was trying to beat him. It was not even Cuba anymore, it was trying to shut him up.”
