Braves Ranked in Baseball America Survey

Baseball America conducted a survey of every major league manager, asking them to rank players in a bunch of different categories.  You can see all of the results here, but as a shortcut, here is the list of Braves who caught the collective eye of the field bosses:

BEST FASTBALL:  (2nd) Craig Kimbrel

BEST CURVEBALL:  (3rd) Julio Teheran

BEST SLIDER:  (1st) Craig Kimbrel

BEST RELIEVER:  (1st) Craig Kimbrel

BEST PICKOFF MOVE:  (2nd) Julio Teheran

BEST DEFENSIVE SHORTSTOP:  (1st) Andrelton Simmons

BEST INFIELD ARM: (1st) Andrelton Simmons

BEST DEFENSIVE 1B: (3rd) Freddie Freeman

There are admittedly a few head-scratchers among the results here.  Among them:

BEST CONTROL:  (2nd) Clayton Kershaw.  I have always thought of Kershaw’s fastball as a rudderless missile.  It could literally show up anyway from the ankles to the eyeballs (and his scatter chart proves that).  I would swear that he has no idea where it’s going.  But it’s also got enough life on it that batters almost have to get started on a swing before they know where it’s going – and thus it’s effective.  But “effective” does not equate to “control”.  Does he walk few batters?  Yes – currently #1 in the league.  Does he has great control?  I’d argue not like some other pitchers.

But Finally, There’s This

BEST MANAGER:  (3rd) Fredi Gonzalez

Apparently, Fredi offered to fill out a few ballots on behalf of his fellow managers.  Then again, the National League isn’t exactly having a banner year.