28-year-old Ozzie Albies hasn't played the baseball he was hoping for entering the season, hitting .242. The Atlanta Braves, 15-18 overall and six games behind the first-place New York Mets in the National League East, haven't played well, either.
However, for the Braves, making a quick decision on Albies wouldn't make much sense. Perhaps Brian Snitker starts to panic and wants to change things up, but not letting Albies play every game after 33 games doesn't help anyone.
Despite that, Jeremy Lockett of Athlon Sports believes that's what could happen. He predicted that Albies could lose at-bats to Eli White, mainly if a right-handed pitcher is on the mound.
"It’s clear that White has been more productive than Albies in recent months. This isn’t to say White is an outright upgrade — the sample size is still small, and there’s a lot of baseball left to be played.
"But if White continues to produce, and Albies’ struggles persist, one has to wonder if the Braves might consider a change, especially in a platoon role against right-handed pitchers," Lockett wrote.
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Throughout his career, Albies has been a much better hitter against left-handers from the right side of the plate. Against right-handed pitchers, he owns a career average of .247 and has struck out 526 times in 2,648 at-bats.
Albies has a .334 batting average against left-handers as a right-handed hitter with 42 home runs and 130 strikeouts in 926 at-bats.
While it's a much smaller sample size, he's a better hitter against left-handers, and there's no denying that.
Perhaps the Braves want to make a move, but there has to be other factors considered, like frustrating Albies, a veteran in the clubhouse.