In the post-Freddie Freeman era, the title of Mr. Brave probably deserves to go to Ozzie Albies. The second baseman is the longest-tenured player on the Atlanta Braves and the primary vocal leader in the clubhouse. He has also been a consistent producer, making the All-Star team three times throughout his career. However, the start of 2025 has not been kind to Albies at all.
Entering Saturday’s action (135 plate appearances) Albies, 28, has struggled to a .232/.289/.360 slash line, well below his career .269/.321/.466. He has recorded a mere four home runs, four doubles, and 13 RBI while regularly batting in the middle of the order. The Braves lineup has been underwhelming for most of the young season, and Albies is one of the main reasons why.
This prolonged slump continues a concerning trend for the diminutive Curacaoan. After a career year at the plate in 2023 (.280/.336/.513, 33 home runs) his numbers tailed off dramatically in 2024 (.251/.303/.404, 10 home runs). Albies missed over a third of last season with a broken wrist, a reasonable explanation for the decline. Many had him pegged for a rebound this year, but instead, his stats have fallen even further, and a peek under the hood is quite alarming.
Ozzie Albies’ Underlying Metrics are Gross
Albies’ 2025 Statcast page is an absolute eyesore. His batted ball metrics are among the worst in baseball, with his bat speed, average exit velocity, and hard hit percentage all ranking in the bottom 10 percent of all qualified hitters. As such, his .275 xwOBA, .285 xwOBACON, and .347 xSLG are all equally terrible. Albies remains tough to strike out (14.1 K%) but is currently not a threat when putting the ball in play. This has allowed pitchers to attack him in the zone more regularly.
One trend that jumps off the page is the rate at which Albies is popping the ball up on the infield. So far, 14.2% of his balls in play have resulted in pop-ups, which is way up from 9.8% last year and nearly double his career rate of 7.5%. Pop-ups are the type of contact with the smallest chance of resulting in a hit, and Albies running into so many guaranteed outs is hurting the Braves offense considerably.
Perhaps related to this is Albies’ inability to hit breaking balls in the young season. He has never been great in this department, but it’s been a new level of futility this year. After posting a career-best .290 xwOBA against breaking balls in 2023, that number fell to .224 a year ago. This season it has plummeted all the way to a shocking .175.
Hard to Find an Explanation
Usually, the switch-hitting Albies’ saving grace is batting right-handed, where he has been far superior throughout his career. However, this year his stats against lefties are even worse than the other way around, albeit in just 27 plate appearances. The overall drop-off is very confusing for a player in the middle of his athletic prime.
While there have been no reports to this effect, it’s possible his wrist is still bothering him to some degree. Wrist injuries are notorious for sapping power, and the timing and magnitude of Albies’ falloff at the plate is inconspicuous. Some Braves fans will remember that Freddie Freeman, after missing 10 weeks with a broken wrist in 2017, only hit 23 home runs in 2018 before regaining his power with 38 in 2019.
Could He Lose At-Bats?
It’s hard to imagine manager Brian Snitker benching Ozzie Albies despite his poor performance. However, if this Braves season becomes any more dire, he may have no choice but to look at alternatives. One option is utilityman Eli White, who has been tearing the cover off the ball in recent weeks but stands to lose his starting spot when Ronald Acuña Jr. returns to action shortly.
White is an outfielder by trade, but he has the ability to play all over the diamond. He has just four major league appearances at second, but had 75 in the minors. The defense would be a concern regardless given the inexperience at the position, but Albies has been a below-average defensive second baseman for three years now. It seems unlikely that White would significantly cut into Albies’ playing time, as the latter has been the everyday guy since he debuted in 2017. But this is a team desperate for a spark on offense, and if Albies continues his anemic performance at the plate there may have to be some tough conversations among the Braves braintrust.
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