Former Atlanta Braves Shortstop Elected into Hall of Pretty Good

The shortstop is a product of the Braves developmental system, being drafted by the team in 2010 and playing his first few seasons in Atlanta. In four seasons with the Braves, he had a slash line of .256./304/.362, 31 home runs, 168 RBIs and a 15.6 WAR.

While he was a sufficient contributor at the plate, what made himstand out was his high-caliber defense. He took home back-to-back Gold Glove Awards, the first two of the four he won in his career, at shortstop in 2013 and 2014.

Simmons moved on to Anaheim after his time in Atlanta, spending four seasons with the Angels. He was out west for five seasons, winning his other two Gold Gloves in back-to-back seasons in 2017 and 2018. He played a season each with the Twins and Cubs to end his career.

The Hall of Pretty Good was started by Bryce Whitlow, a 23-year-old paraeducator living in Sunapree, N.H. He created the concept from scratch, looking to highlight standout ballplayers who were quite at the caliber to make it to Cooperstown.

He has garnered a wide following over the last year. His X page has over 36,000 followers, and his Instagram, where the voting takes place, has 162,000. He has a strict set of guidelines for eligibility. Some of the players who have been elected have publicly acknowledged the results.

Players must have a bWAR no higher than 38.6 (Simmons just gets under that mark at 36.5). This baseline comes from what he calls the Harold Baines meter. Since Baines made the Hall of Fame with a bWAR of 38.8, a player needs to be below that to be considered just "pretty good."

A player can also have no MVPs, no Cy Young Awards, not be in the actual Hall of Fame, and have to be retired or not on an MLB roster for three years. For example, Charlie Morton would fall under this category once he reaches three years away from the game. However, had he won the Cy Young award he was a finalist for in 2019, he would be ineligible despite having a 16.2 bWAR.

Matt Olson, for another example, just became ineligible this season. His bWAR is now 39.8. Ronald Acuña Jr. could retire tomorrow, and he would be ineligible due to his 2023 MVP season.

Going forward, Atlanta Braves on SI will be tracking former Braves elected into the Hall of Pretty Good.

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