Atlanta Braves history: Top 5 franchise second basemen
By Fred Owens
Number three – The wizard of Ozzie
One of a handful of things Fran Wren did right before being shown the door was his signing of a diminutive 16-year old shortstop from Willemstad, Curacao, Ozhaino Jurdy Jiandro “Ozzie” Albies for the princely sum of $350K.
At that time, Baseball America’s scouting report described him as small with “surprising tools for his size,” a “plus-plus runner” who should stay at shortstop and a switch-hitter with limited power projection. Close, but no cigar.
Related Story. What if we only talk about Atlanta. light
After batting .381/.481/.429/.909 in 19 games with the GSL Braves with one appearance at with Danville in the middle, he returned to Danville permanently, ending the year batting .364/.446/.444/.891 with one homer.
A strong season at Rome in 2015 lead to what Baseball America ($ paywall) called an aggressive assignment to AA to start the 2016 season. Atlanta Braves assistant director for player development Jonathan Schuerholz said they knew Ozzie could handle it.
"“The stage was never too bright for him. You see what he handled in big league camp. This is a special young man who looks a challenge in the face and looks at it as a positive.”"
Handle it he did, 15-months later, Ozzie made his Major League debut batting .286/.354/.456/.810 with six homers in 244 PA.
Since arriving in Atlanta, he’s batted .279/.332/.448/.810, stole 37 bases in 45 attempts, posted a .340 wOBA, 109 wRC+, accumulated 10.3 fWAR, was runner-up for the Gold Glove at second base, appeared in an All-Star game and won a Silver Slugger award.
He also made Baseball America chalk their limited-power projection up as a mistake by hitting 48 homers in 1386 PA over the last two seasons, placing him in a tie for first place among second basemen. Albies is also:
- Second among all National League players and leads all MLB second basemen in doubles (83)
- Tied with four players at tenth in MLB, fourth in the NL in triples (13)