Andrelton Simmons was out of the Braves lineup Sunday for what manager Fredi Gonzalez said was personal matter and not an injury.
“It’s a family matter, and we’ll just leave it at that,” said Gonzalez, who said the shortstop was available if needed Sunday and was expected to be back in the lineup for Monday’s series opener against the Cardinals.
“He just needs a little time to, like, clear his head a little bit. It’s not anything other than, we’re all human, we all have problems, we all have families, and sometimes (there are personal issues),” Gonzalez said.
Simmons was 2-for-16 with two walks in his past five games, and struck out on a head-high pitch Saturday to give him strikeouts in consecutive games for the first time all season. He has only five strikeouts all season and hit .298 with three strikeouts in 84 at-bats over his first 22 games before the five-game mini-slump.
Ramiro Pena replaced him in the shortstop and No. 8 spot in the batting order. Simmons started 27 of 29 games before Sunday.
