Atlanta Braves: Three takeaways from well-rounded win over Padres
Ozzie Albies continues to set the table
Much was made of Ozzie Albies’ significant second-half dropoff in production last season.
A lot of that criticism down the stretch centered on two particular themes: Ozzie’s obvious lefty/righty splits – he has always fared far worse vs RHP than lefties – and his underwhelming walk rate.
Fast forward to the present, and one can see that this is a young player who is beginning to put it all together to be more of a complete hitter.
The numbers against right-handers tell the tale of the improvement.
- 2018 Splits vs RHP: .231 BA, .283 OBP, .412 SLG, .696 OPS
- 2019 Splits vs RHP: .247 BA, .330 OBP, .393 SLG, .723 OPS
Sure, the line from ’18 is over the course of an entire season, but 100 plate appearances vs RHP coming into Wednesday night for the 2019 campaign is not necessarily a small sample size.
And true, the slugging percentage is down a tick from last year, but even that is most certainly trending in the right direction of late.
Look at this week alone for the Great and Powerful Oz.
Going back to Sunday’s finale against the Rockies, the Atlanta leadoff man has homered three times to go with a double and a triple (both in Wednesday night’s win against the Padres), all in just 16 at-bats.
Perhaps the most encouraging trend of them all for Ozzie is the walk rate, however, which has jumped from 5.3% to 7.6% so far.
His improved pitch selection has led to the aforementioned spike in on-base percentage, and has given the Braves a bonafide leadoff option who makes things happen at the top.
You’ll continue to get the debate that maybe Ozzie at leadoff isn’t as smart as putting, say, Ronald Acuna, Jr. in that role.
However, Ozzie is proving that he can handle the responsibility just fine thus far, which is great for the Braves moving forward in 2019, and great for Ozzie Albies moving forward in his young career.