The situation: While the Braves have had a surprisingly good year offensively -- they rank third in the National League in runs scored -- rookie shortstop Tyler Pastornicky has not played a big part in that. Batting just .248/.281/.324 and struggling defensively, Pastornicky was sent down to Triple-A on Thursday, and the club in turn reached down to Double-A Mississippi for their top positional prospect, Andrelton Simmons.
Background: Many scouts preferred Simmons, a second-round pick in the 2010 draft, as a pitcher; he touched 98 mph in a bullpen role at Western Oklahoma State. While he was generally considered the best defensive shortstop in that year's draft, there were questions as to whether Simmons would hit at all. But he quickly answered them by posting a .311/.351/.408 line at High-A Lynchburg during his full-season debut (2011), and then has proved it was for real with a .272/.372/.421 line at Mississippi so far this year.