Simmons will take it easy in Braves camp until oblique strain heals
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- Andrelton Simmons' inability to take it easy may just force him to miss some time as the Atlanta Braves hit the field for full-squad workouts on Wednesday.
Simmons aggravated his left oblique sometime between one and two weeks ago while batting. He tried to push through the injury to no avail.
The Braves are calling Simmons' injury a mild, left oblique strain.
"It's so minor, said Simmons. "I tried to go on it [and] didn't rest it enough, aggravated it a little bit and then I rested for a day or two and went back on it. It just didn't go away. I finally decided to just come here [spring training] and take it easy, not aggravate it and let it heal 100 percent."
Simmons said the injury felt like a small cramp, definitely something small. He'd felt a similar injury in the past, back in 2012 when he was trying to make the team during spring training. The injury kept him from breaking camp with the Braves, and Tyler Pastornicky help down the position until Simmons was called up to start in June.
Learning from past mistakes, Simmons is going to make sure he doesn't try to rush back.
"Yeah, I'm trying to learn," said Simmons on his inability to rest properly in the past to rehab injuries. "The past couple of years they had trouble with me staying in the training room and just taking my rest. Because I want to be out there. I'm sure everybody else does. I just like being out there taking ground balls and diving and throwing, hitting. So, I'm trying to be patient."
Simmons said he'll keep testing his oblique on a daily basis and hopes to be back to full workouts by next week. He wasn't sure what day, but wants a quick resolution. The next step, when he feels better, is to throwing, then start swinging in short stints.
With the full squad in camp, Simmons did participate on Wednesday, but not fully. He took grounders and did some running and stretching. He did not swing a bat or throw.
He's going to continue on a limited basis for the time being, and let rest, lots of water, ice and treatments from the staff work its rehab magic.
"Anything that doesn't aggravate it I'm pretty free to take part of," said Simmons. "Ground balls don't hinder it at all."
Just don't expect any superhero-like dives any time over the next week.
