Braves Need A Lot More From 2B Ozzie Albies

Most Atlanta Braves hitters are out of their early season slumps. The ones who aren't have at least provided in key situations.

Center fielder Michael Harris II is the best example of that. Harris owns a .617 OPS and a .188 batting average with runners in scoring position in 24 games this season.

But Harris tied Friday's game with a single in the eighth against the Minnesota Twins. That hit arguably set the tone for the entire successful home stand.

The Braves are still waiting for that kind of moment, or just simply more, from second baseman Ozzie Albies.

Albies hasn't been bad. He has a hit in 14 of his past 18 games. Albies is also on pace for around 25 home runs. That would put him in the neighborhood where he typical is with homers over a full season.

But overall, Albies is slashing an uneventful .234/.301/.394. The second baseman also has a .207 average and .579 OPS with runners in scoring position.

He's been meh, and he's been meh far too long.

Albies may have encountered a little bad luck to begin this season. The Braves second baseman has a BABIP nearly 60 points below his career norm. Albies' .234 BABIP is also far below his .289 BABIP from the 2023 season, which was the last time he made the All-Star team.

But in 2023, Albies registered a career-high 38.9% hard-hit percentage according to FanGraphs. This season, Albies possesses a 25.9% hard-hit rate.

The second baseman was actually lucky to get a hit Wednesday versus the St. Louis Cardinals. He was 1-for-4 with a single, which was a dribbler down the third base line that didn't roll foul.

Most of the time, though, Albies isn't hitting the ball on the ground. He is "getting under" far too many pitches.

In his MLB career, Albies has posted a 8.9% infield popup rate. Through the first month this season, Albies has a career-high 18.4% infield popup rate.

Coupled with a 16.3% infield popup rate from last season, that's quite concerning. This problem should be fixable for the second baseman, but Albies has been dealing with the issue for more than a year.

At 28 years old, Albies should be firmly in his prime. There's no logical reason the Braves second baseman should be experiencing a decrease in his reflexes, resulting in less hard contact or more infield popups.

Fortunately for the Braves, third baseman Austin Riley and catcher Sean Murphy are on hot streaks. To support them, designated hitter Marcell Ozuna and first baseman Matt Olson have contributed power and a lot of walks.

Harris and others such as reserve outfielder Eli White are contributing with timely hitting.

But for the Braves to have one of the best offenses in the majors again, which is what they will have on paper when Ronald Acuña returns, Albies needs to rebound from his disappointing 2024 campaign.

There aren't a lot of signs yet that Albies is going to make that happen in 2025.