Braves' Ozzie Albies Progressing One Side of Plate Quicker than Other

Switch hitting Atlanta Braves second baseman Ozzie Albies is feeling healthier on one side of the plate than the other after injury.

Switch hitting Atlanta Braves second baseman Ozzie Albies is feeling healthier on one side of the plate than the other after injury. / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Ahead of Friday night’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays, Atlanta Braves manager Brian Snitker provided an update on second baseman Ozzie Albies. 

The switch hitter is swinging fine from the right-handed side but is still feeling discomfort from the left-handed side. It makes sense. His left hand, also his glove hand, is his injured side. It’s the hand that controls the bat when at the plate as a lefty. It seems when his left hand is the driving hand while batting as a righty, it isn’t as much of an issue. 

According to MLB.com’s Mark Bowman, when asked if Albies would simply bat on the right side, Snitker said it would be up to Albies. 

"Ozzie Albies is still feeling some discomfort swinging left-handed. I asked if there was any chance he would just hit right-handed. Snitker said that kind of decision is up to the player," reported Bowman on X.

Now, at first thought, and many immediately jumped to this conclusion in the replies to this update, Albies can simply bat as a righty. Maybe he does. However, Bowman brought up a good point in a follow-up tweet. 

It’s not so easy to just face right-handed pitching as a right-handed batter when you’ve been doing it as a left-handed batter for years. 

The adjustment can be made over time. But there's nothing natural about attempting to adjust to seeing right-handed pitches from the right side after you have spent more than a decade as a switch hitter https://t.co/wbNfy2RYmu

— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) September 6, 2024

He hasn’t tried it this season and the previous sample sizes are too small to be considered significant - going back the last few seasons, you can count the number of times on your fingers. 

It’s an entirely different angle. It’s why batters of the same handedness as the pitchers typically don’t do as well and why being a switch hitter is so advantageous. Otherwise, there would be no point to it. 

The Braves and Albies will have to decide if only half of his ability is better than having somebody else in the lineup. They could potentially have him in solely against lefties - which he has always been considerably better against anyway. He's nearly 100-points higher against lefties over his career with a slash line of .339/.364/.568 vs. left-handed pitching as opposed to .247/.310/.437 against right-handed pitching.

In 90 games this season, Albies is batting .258 with a .717 OPS  with eight home runs and 46 RBIs. He has been sidelined since July 21 with a fractured left wrist.