Jessica Belmosto

You don’t see a lot of players making their big league debut at just twenty years old. Usually they’re working on development somewhere in the farm system. That was not the case for Ozzie Albies. Albies was called up in August of 2017. It took just 244 plate appearances for Ozzie to catch people’s attention.

The Braves have struggled for years now. Dare I say, the laughing stock of the league. Rebuilding takes time and if they keep finding players like Ozzie, they’ll be on the road to success. Could the already be on it though? They’re taking the NL East by storm this season. They’re currently in first place while being ten games over 500… That’s a big change from past years.  ( 2017: 72-90,  2016: 68-93 2015: 67-95 )

I had a friend suggest I write about Ozzie. I hadn’t fully done my research until I saw him play against Boston. Defensively, he reminds me of a young Dustin Pedroia. It’s exciting to see a young player come in and play a key role in rebuilding.

If you watch his highlights you can catch a real good glimpse of the player he is. You can very clearly see the potential too. There were a few clips where the ball was just shy of getting over the wall. Some strength training will make those balls home runs.

Right now, Albies is hitting .268 with 14 home runs and an OPS of .861. That’s looking pretty good for someone’s first complete season. There’s still plenty of time left to see what other talent can be unlocked. If it doesn’t happen now, it’s going to happen. It may not be next season or the season after but if he plays his cards right, it is guaranteed to happen.