After struggling with injuries for the last two seasons, Atlanta Braves second baseman Ozzie Albies needed a big rebound in 2026 to prove that he could still be the the dependable bat he had been for his first seven years in the big leagues.
Through the first month of the season, Albies certainly has looked like the Ozzie of old, entering Saturday's action with a .305/.348/.476 slashline and a 130 OPS+, very reminiscent of his 2023 All-Star season.
However, his trademark of mashing lefties as a right-handed hitter has been surprisingly absent in his resurgence.
Ozzie Albies is hitting well, despite his right-handed bat starting the season slow
Coming into Saturday's game, Albies had a .292/.356/.492 slashline as a left-handed hitter, hitting four of his five home runs against right-handed pitching. Against lefties, he's hitting for higher average, but slugging worse.
Facing left-handed pitching, Albies is slashing .308/.317/.436. Albies has never drawn walks against left-handed pitching, as he has a 3.7% walk-rate for his career against lefties, but he has generally mashed southpaws, with a .536 SLG for his career. His bat has been so potent from the right-side, there have been calls for years to get the switch-hitter to drop switch-hitting.
This year has been different though, as the inputs just haven't been promising. Despite owning a career 39.2% hard-hit rate against southpaws, Albies came into Saturday with a hard-hit rate of just 27% this year. His average exit velocity is just 83.9 MPH, well below his career mark of 89.4 MPH.
Of course, part of this could still be small sample size. Albies had just 41 plate appearances hitting right-handed, compared to 73 hitting left-handed. During Saturday's game against the Phillies, Albies did hit two big doubles right-handed, upping these stats all-around.
It could also mean that what we've seen from Albies isn't even his peak self. If Ozzie can manage to start mashing again from the right side, while continuing to hit well from the left side, we might see a career season from the longest tenured Braves player.
Add us as a preferred source on Google