Atlanta Braves: Best Double Play Duo In Baseball?

At 37-41 and 6 games back of the first-place Washington Nationals, the 2015 Atlanta Braves are certainly up to this point not the best team in Major League Baseball, or the National League for that manner. But that doesn’t mean that the Braves aren’t one of the best at one particular facet of the game.

Not all that long ago, Braves fans could claim that their team had the best bullpen in baseball, right up their with the Kansas City Royals. Now that’s a distant memory with the relief corps’ issues for most of this season (-1.2 WAA). At least we’re not Oakland (-2.4 WAA).

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Besides not striking out at the plate, I believe that the 2015 Atlanta Braves are elite in one other area of the game: turning double plays, especially up the middle. With SS Andrelton Simmons and 2B Jace Peterson, do the Atlanta Braves have the best double play duo in all of baseball?

At almost the All-Star Break, the Atlanta Braves’ defense is second in baseball with 88 converted double plays. The team is only one behind the Pittsburgh Pirates in that category. Any time your team is in the same conversation with a Clint Hurdle Pirates team, you’re doing something right. After seeing the Pirates twice this year, I feel very confident that Pittsburgh can make some serious noise in the postseason, even if they don’t catch the unbeatable St. Louis Cardinals in the NL Central.

Of the 88 double plays turned by Atlanta, All-World shortstop Andrelton Simmons has been responsible for 63, while the rangy second baseman Jace Peterson has been a part of 58. From Day One in the Majors, Simmons built a reputation as the best defensive player in baseball. He is a two-time Rawlings Gold Glove Award Winner (2013-14) and took home baseball’s highest defensive honor in 2013: the Rawlings Platinum Glove Award. With impressive range, a howitzer of an arm, and a .991 fielding percentage in 2015, expect a three-peat for Simmons at short this year.

I believe scouts undervalued just how good Jace Peterson is defensively. They knew he was going to become a Major League hitter (.262 AVG, .341 OBP), but the question was where was Jace going to play best defensively. He has found a great fit in the Atlanta Braves infield at second, situated nicely between Simmons and 1B Freddie Freeman (get back soon!) with a .989 fielding percentage.

There are multiple balls hit on the right side of the infield that I’m continually amazed that Jace even gets a glove on. I love his aggressiveness as a former defensive collegiate football player at McNeese State. He’s still got a way to go to beat out Cincinnati’s 2B Brandon Phillips for best defensive player in baseball at the position. In 2015 Peterson has proven that his defense at second isn’t a liability, but actually a strength for the Braves.

Outside of Atlanta, I do enjoy the defensive prowess of both San Francisco and Miami up the middle. The Giants have a terrific duo in SS Brandon Crawford and 2B Joe Panik. Miami has two studs in SS Adeiny Hechavarria and 2B Dee Gordon. While having any of these three double play partners up the middle would be a delight for any Major League roster, it’s hard to pass up Simmons’ complete defensive game or Peterson’s ability to play second base with the range of a free safety.

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If you add the Atlanta Braves starting corner infielders in 1B Freddie Freeman and 3B Juan Uribe, Atlanta might have the best defense around the horn since the 1999 New York Mets (Robin Ventura, Rey Ordonez, Edgardo Alfonzo, and John Olerud). That Mets team faced the Braves in the NLCS that year and thanks to a Kenny Rogers bases-loaded, full count walk to CF Andruw Jones, Atlanta went to its fifth World Series of the 90’s only to get trounced by the New York Yankees in the Fall Classic.

I’m not saying that the 2015 Atlanta Braves are anywhere near NLCS caliber, but its infield defense is as good as anybody’s I’ve seen in a decade and a half. I’m looking forward to more 6-4-3’s and 4-6-3’s for the Braves defense this season. Maybe tonight’s starter LHP Manny Banuelos gets Washington’s 3B Yunel Escobar to GIDP again tonight. We have our warts as a baseball team, but the Atlanta Braves are nearly flawless up the middle defensively this season. As Zombieland’s Tallahassee once said, “You gotta enjoy the little things.”

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