at the present time

It must be a little disheartening to be a shortstop in Atlanta’s minor league system. After all, Andrelton Simmons, the former Mississippi Braves star, figures to have a grip on the big league job for a long time. Nevertheless, Braves brass see something they like in Elmer Reyes, the current M-Braves shortstop. He was invited to the big league spring camp in 2013 and made the protected 40-man roster this past off-season. And he is off to a great start in his Double-A debut. In 11 games for the M-Braves — he began the season on the disabled list with an oblique injury — Reyes is batting .372 with six doubles, a triple, nine RBIs and five runs. If there is a troublesome number, it’s his four errors. The 5-foot-11, 175-pound Reyes, from Nicaragua, was signed by the Braves in 2009 and has moved steadily through the system. He batted .285 with 39 extra base hits (five homers) and 60 RBIs at high Class A Lynchburg last season. It’s unlikely that Reyes will challenge Simmons for his job anytime soon, but who knows what the future holds? Reyes is doing fine in the present. The M-Braves are back in Pearl on Wednesday to start a five-game homestand. P.S. Whatever happened to former Braves prospect William Beckwith? Well, the former West Lowndes High star from Crawford recently signed with the Washington (Pa.) Wild Things of the independent Frontier League. About this time last year, Beckwith was in Lynchburg and projected to be the M-Braves’ first baseman in 2014. After batting .291 with 15 homers and 78 RBIs at low-A Rome in 2012, Beckwith played for the Future Stars team against the big league club in last year’s exhibition game at Trustmark Park. But his Braves career was derailed by some off-field issues last summer. He was suspended for a time, then demoted and finally released in the off-season.