So, Ozzie Albies, a 28-year-old player for the struggling Atlanta Braves, hasn’t exactly been hitting the baseball like a pro this season. He’s rocking a .242 average, which is not quite what he or the team were hoping for. The Braves, sitting at 15-18 overall and six games behind those pesky New York Mets in the National League East, are also not having the best time on the field.
But hey, let’s not jump to conclusions just yet. Making a rash decision about Albies might not be the smartest move for the Braves. I mean, sure, their manager Brian Snitker might start freaking out and want to shake things up. But benching Albies after just 33 games doesn’t really benefit anyone, does it?
However, Jeremy Lockett over at Athlon Sports seems to think differently. He’s out here predicting that Albies could start losing playing time to Eli White, especially when facing right-handed pitchers. Lockett points out that White has been putting up better numbers than Albies lately, although he admits the sample size is still pretty small.
“It’s clear that White has been more productive than Albies in recent months. This isn’t to say White is an outright upgrade — the sample size is still small, and there’s a lot of baseball left to be played. But if White continues to produce, and Albies’ struggles persist, one has to wonder if the Braves might consider a change, especially in a platoon role against right-handed pitchers,” Lockett wrote.
Now, let’s talk stats. Albies has historically been a stronger hitter against left-handed pitchers when batting from the right side of the plate. Against righties, he’s got a career average of .247 and has struck out a whopping 526 times in 2,648 at-bats. On the other hand, he’s batting a solid .334 against lefties as a right-handed hitter, smacking 42 homers but also striking out 130 times in 926 at-bats.
So, yeah, he definitely seems to have a better time against lefties. But hey, who knows what the Braves are thinking? They might want to switch things up, but they gotta consider other stuff too, like potentially upsetting Albies, who’s a veteran in the clubhouse.
In the end, it’s all up in the air. Will Albies keep struggling? Will White steal his playing time? Will the Braves make a move? Who knows, really. We’ll just have to wait and see how it all plays out on the field.
