Ozzie

Albies

Albies almost had a second homer, which would have been a three-run shot. However, Brandon Lockridge made a jumping catch near the low wall in the left field corner at Petco. The actual homer was the far more impressive shot, going 413 feet to right.

The lack of elite options at the keystone has made Albies a top-five option at the position, but he hasn’t exactly torn the cover off the ball this spring, batting .214 in 42 at-bats. We’re not putting too much stock into spring statlines, but we’re hopeful the round-tripper helps him shake off the frosty start at the dish leading into Thursday’s season opener.

Everyone still drafting Albies in round four realizes that he’s probably going to open this season hitting sixth against righties and fifth versus lefties, right? He just wasn’t that good before suffering a fractured wrist last year, and while it doesn’t matter much, there’s nothing encouraging about his .162/.244/.216 line in 41 plate appearances this spring.

He’s 1-for-11 this spring. Albies hit second today, but it looks like the Braves are leaning towards putting Austin Riley there and dropping Albies down to fifth or sixth (probably sixth against righties). It won’t be great for his fantasy value if that’s how it works out, though he’ll probably put up nice power numbers anyway.

He’s still finding his way right now, but given his career splits, Albies probably just needs to be a right-handed hitter going forward. Both his big hits today were righty-righty matchups, as he’s temporarily given up switch-hitting in his comeback from a fractured left wrist. It looked for a time like he’d be the hero in this one. It didn’t materialize in the end, but he certainly put in the effort. It’s his fifth career five-RBI game. Three of those have come against the Mets.

The plan is for Albies to exclusively bat right-handed upon his return to the lineup. While the Braves’ lineup hasn’t been released yet, expect him to be in there for Friday night’s game against the Marlins. Albies had been on the injured list since mid-July with a fractured left wrist.

Albies, who has temporarily given up switch-hitting to accommodate his fractured left wrist, didn’t get much of a chance to work on his righty-righty swing Tuesday. His single came off the rehabbing Braxton Garrett and the homer was off fellow lefty Josh Simpson. He’ll play again tonight before likely coming off the IL on Friday.

It’s now confirmed that Albies will play Tuesday for the Stripers as he works his way back from his fractured left wrist. The 27-year-old will hope to play in two rehab games in Triple-A, and then could rejoin Atlanta for the weekend series against the Marlins in Miami. Albies plans to hit exclusively from the right side until his wrist is closer to 100 percent, but this is obviously someone worth adding back to your fantasy lineup if/when he is back with the club this weekend.

Assuming his fractured left wrist poses no major problems, he’ll likely rejoin the Braves on Friday. The switch-hitting Albies plans to exclusively bat right-handed until his wrist is closer to 100 percent.

The Braves have already said that Albies would return and hit only right-handed so that he can get back onto the field sooner. If the 27-year-old is able to play without enough pain over the next couple of days, he could possibly return to the Braves this week. Bowman suggests that could shift Whit Merrifield to left field.