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Atlanta Braves Morning Chop: Turning a Page in the Same Book

By Alan Carpenter

It's a Delta plane And you can get email alerts for your flights, too! Mandatory Credit: Erich Schlegel-USA TODAY Sports
It's a Delta plane And you can get email alerts for your flights, too! Mandatory Credit: Erich Schlegel-USA TODAY Sports /
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Jun 1, 2014; Miami, FL, USA; Atlanta Braves relief pitcher Shae Simmons (left) shakes hands with catcher Evan Gattis (right) after defeating the Miami Marlins 4-2 at Marlins Ballpark. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 1, 2014; Miami, FL, USA; Atlanta Braves relief pitcher Shae Simmons (left) shakes hands with catcher Evan Gattis (right) after defeating the Miami Marlins 4-2 at Marlins Ballpark. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports /

Simmons could give Braves a power arm to complement Vizcaino

DAVID O’BRIEN / AJC.COM

The Braves could have hard-throwing reliever Shae Simmons back from his long elbow-surgery rehab soon, and they certainly need him.

More from Tomahawk Take

Of the three pitchers the Braves were counting on most at the back of their bullpen, veteran Jim Johnson had a 7.90 ERA in 15 appearances before landing on the disabled list with a groin strain, and 39-year-old Jason Grilli has a 6.94 ERA in 15 appearances and hasn’t regained his form after season-ending Achilles surgery last summer.

The only one of the three who’s excelled is closer Arodys Vizcaino, with a 1.10 ERA in 16 appearances and 23 strikeouts in 16 1/3 innings.

…

Simmons had Tommy John surgery in February 2014 and the Braves were cautious in bringing him back on a slower rehab protocol than they’ve used in the past.

[ Ed. note:  Simmons had his first rehab outing on Monday night – giving up a lead-off triple and a walk… but striking out 3 hitters (2 swinging) besides that while hitting the mid-90’s with his fastball.  That’ll play.

It was a bit unusual, as Simmons started the game, giving up the mound in the second inning to Casey Kelly, who provided 7 innings of strong ‘relief’, backed up further by Matt Marksberry and Chris Withrow in a 4-1 Gwinnett win.

I’m admittedly not too sure about the ‘slower’ protocol.  It may be about a month slower, but not much more than that.  Some pitchers have starting throwing just a year post-surgery (Simmons is now at 15 months), but that’s unusual.  13-14 months seems to be the typical time before getting back into game action.

Next: The 'Why' of it all

Regardless:  let’s hope that this new rehab regimen prolongs his career as it starts anew.  ]

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