just by watching

Don’t get WAR, the acronym seamheads use for their pet stat, Wins Above Replacement. Just don’t get it. Can’t begin to fathom how UZR (Ultimate Zone Rating) or DRS (Defensive Runs Saved) are calculated. Not doubting their validity. Just don’t understand them. Some use those numbers to tell us that Andrelton Simmons is a really good player, that the ex-Mississippi Braves standout is having, perhaps, the best defensive season by any shortstop ever. See “Wizards Like Oz,” a piece largely about Simmons, in the current issue (Sept. 16) of Sports Illustrated. Well, here’s another good way to judge a player: JBW. Just By Watching. If you watch Simmons on a regular basis, you don’t really need those complicated stats to tell you that he can really play. Watch him for just a few games and you’ll see he has great range, steady hands, an amazingly quick release and a rifle for an arm. If he has a flaw, it might be that he sometimes overdoes it, making a throw that shouldn’t be made or chasing a ball that someone else might have a better crack at. But the plays he makes certainly overshadow any of that. Some would use those complicated stats to argue that Simmons is the Braves’ MVP, even the National League’s MVP. OK, that’s going too far for a .259, bottom-of-the-order hitter with 15 home runs. If you watch the Braves on a regular basis, you know that Freddie Freeman, another ex-M-Braves star, is Atlanta’s best player and should be a top MVP candidate. Freeman is hitting .309 with 20 homers and 98 RBIs. He’s been producing all season. And he’s also a pretty good glove at first base. Don’t need WAR, UZR or DRS to tell you any of that. You can tell JBW.