eye on …

The test is yet to come for Andrelton Simmons. The prized prospect had two hits in his Mississippi Braves debut on Monday night, which is great. But it’ll take a few weeks, if not longer, to truly gauge his bat at the Double-A level. The Curacao native, 22, answered some questions about his hitting ability last season, when he batted .311 at Class A Lynchburg. Double-A pitching, of course, is a cut above that level; he’ll see major league-caliber arms fairly often. Simmons, drafted in the second round out of an Oklahoma junior college in 2010, can throw 98 mph, which is why Atlanta initially wanted to develop him as a pitcher. But he convinced the Braves to let him play shortstop. He has great range and the big arm, and everyone seemingly was impressed in big league camp as he battled former M-Brave Tyler Pastornicky for the starting shortstop job. Simmons’ bat cooled after a hot start, and then he was shelved with a minor injury near the end of spring. Pastornicky went to The Show, and Simmons came to Mississippi. He is listed at 6 feet 2, 170 pounds, but he has some power, having rapped 35 doubles in A-ball last summer. He can run a little, too. “He has no fear,” his former Lynchburg manager, Luis Salazar, has said of Simmons. That’s one of the main qualities needed for success in Double-A. We shall see if he has the others.