Ozzie Albies' Return to Form Reflects Braves Rocketing Start

The resurgence of Atlanta Braves second baseman Ozzie Albies is proving to be a trend. He reached base twice on Tuesday night in the 5-2 win over the Detroit Tigers. His two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning provided late-game insurance.

Albies is now on pace for 32 home runs and 97 RBIs this season. Neither stat would be a career-high, but both would be his best since his All-Star season in 2023, when he hit 33 home runs and drove in 109 runs.

There’s another counting stat where he’s currently on pace to set a new season-best: hits. Through 30 games, he’s collected 37, putting him on pace to tally 199 over 162 games. Just one season after debate ensued over his future with the team, Albies could be reaching new heights.

“It’s been great,” Matt Olson said on Sunday. “To have a bat like that, switch hitter, any pitch in any location at any time, you know, drive in the ball. He can run. It’s been, you know, you can throw him in any spot, and it fits.”

Doubts that surrounded him throughout the offseason and throughout spring training have been silenced in a hurry.

It's reflective of how the team looks this year compared to last. Albies had an off year with an injury last year. The Braves were under .500 and had injuries aplenty. Now, he’s healthy and rolling. The team is healthier, in comparison, and has the best record in Major League Baseball.

With Tuesday’s win, they became the only team with a .700 winning percentage. They’re currently on pace to finish with 113 wins. As remarkable as a 37-win improvement would be, they’ve likely have a winning streak at some point that brings that pace down to earth.

However, like Albies, the Braves are showing that some winning in the first month of the season isn’t just a minor hot streak. This is a sustainable ability to win games that hasn’t been the case in the last couple of seasons.

Their record in April, 18-7 (.720), is their best record in a month since August 2023, when they finished 21-8 (.724). The month still isn’t over; they can still tack on or drop a couple. That’s baseball. We’ll find out in a short time which note they finish this unreal month on.

Much of the credit can go to the bench, but this is the type of run that isn’t sustainable without the star power stepping up. Albies has been one of the stars who have stepped up since his first trip to the plate on opening day.

Olson, who was an All-Star for the third time in his own right last year, is resembling the 2023 version of himself that finished fourth in the National League MVP voting. Austin Riley is starting to get going a bit, as well as Ronald Acuña Jr. Michael Harris II could be in for a career year.

The talent was there. The last couple of seasons saw some down years and some injuries. But they’ve seemed to finally shake it off. It’s a long season. There’s a lot of baseball to be played, where plenty can go wrong, but starting 21-9 is more promising than 14-16 through 30 games.

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