Andrelton Simmons Named ESPN’s Defensive Player of the Year

For the second consecutive year, Atlanta Braves shortstop Andrelton Simmons has been named the MLB Defensive Player of the Year by ESPN’s SweetSpot blog.

The full write-up from ESPN’s Mark Simon, which can be read here, provides great detail of Simmons and his exploits as a dominant defensive player from the shortstop position. Here is a snippet:

"Simmons still excelled at fielding balls in the shortstop-third base hole, with a prowess unmatched by anyone else. His conversion rate on double-play opportunities (as either fielder or relay man) jumped from 62 percent to 75 percent.Simmons also stood out on video review, by Baseball Info Solutions’ system of tracking Good Fielding Plays (30 categories) and Defensive Misplays & Errors (nearly 60 categories). His ratio of Good Plays to Bad Plays went from 1.9 (76 to 39) to 2.5 (69 to 28). Only two shortstops — Alexi Amarista (2.6) and Troy Tulowitzki (2.5) — had a better ratio and both played fewer games at the position than Simmons."

It is widely known at this point that Andrelton Simmons is the definition of an elite fielder, and earlier in November, he was honored with another Gold Glove award. The list of accomplishments on the defensive side of things is a mile along, including the fact that he easily leads all MLB players in defensive runs saved (69) and defensive WAR (9.3) over the past two seasons.

Jason Heyward was noted as the “runner-up” to Simmons in the category, essentially stating that the Atlanta Braves employed the top two defensive players in the Major Leagues this season. That is borderline amazing when you consider the vast pool of talent from coast to coast, and without the duo of Simmons and Heyward, the defense would be in dire straits.

Congratulations to Andrelton Simmons on yet another well-deserved defensive honor.