ARLINGTON, Texas — There are certain topics that pop up almost yearly among fans.
Here’s one: Ozzie Albies, switch-hitting and questions about why he simply wouldn’t hit only from the right side.
Before we get into any of it, let’s start here: Albies isn’t changing anything.
“I love switch-hitting,” he said after Monday’s win over the Rangers. “Some days, it feels amazing on the left side. Some days, it feels not as good on the right side. Some days it’s opposite. I guess because I’m naturally righty, it clicks better.”
But has he ever considered solely hitting for the right side?
“It was a conversation in the past, but still, I love doing switch-hitting,” said Albies, who soon added it was a conversation between him and coaches.
The splits are, well, notable. This is why fans are always bringing up this topic.
To make it easy, we’ll list them.
Albies over his career as a right-handed batter versus left-handed pitching: A .337 batting average and a .948 OPS over 721 at-bats entering Wednesday.
Albies over his career as a left-handed batter versus right-handed pitching: A .245 batting average and a .732 OPS over 1,924 at-bats.
Albies in 2023 as a right-handed batter facing lefty pitching: A .439 batting average and a 1.290 OPS over 57 at-bats.
Albies in 2023 as a left-handed batter facing righty pitching: A .174 batting average and a .575 OPS over 109 at-bats.
As of this writing, Albies has hit five home runs from each side this season. But over his career, he has only 29 fewer homers from the right side than the left side despite taking 1,203 fewer at-bats as a right-handed hitter. (He has fewer at-bats as a right-handed hitter because left-handed pitchers are less common than righties.)
You see the numbers. They certainly stand out.
“I think there’s been conversation ever since he was in the minor leagues about that because you saw it in the minor leagues, too,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said when asked if there’s ever been conversations about Albies hitting from the right side only. “But not really. You look at a guy that has a 30 and 100 under his belt, and All-Star appearances and things like that. If at some point in time he feels like he needs to do that, I’m sure he’ll come to us.”
The “30 and 100″ Snitker is referring to occurred in 2021, when Albies launched 30 homers and drove in 106 runs. The second baseman is a two-time All-Star and a two-time Silver Slugger Award winner.
Whatever Albies is doing is working. Plus, it’s impossible to quantify whether being only a right-handed hitter would improve his overall production. One key reason: If he were only a right-handed bat, Albies would be facing right-handed arms in addition to seeing lefties. Right now, he only sees lefties from the right side, which is advantageous for him.
And then there’s the logistical element. He’s been a switch-hitter for his entire career. Changing his style isn’t as simple as flipping a switch.
“You’d want to at least start it in spring training if you’re gonna do that,” Snitker said. “It’d be something that’d be kind of hard in the middle of the season to jump into, I would think.”
Entering Wednesday’s series finale versus the Rangers, Albies was batting .265 with an .817 OPS. He had hit 10 home runs. He already had driven in 30 runs, which put him in a tie for second on the Braves and a tie for 15th in all of baseball.
Albies experienced a difficult 2022. He fractured his foot, which required a few months on the injured list. Around 24 hours after returning to the lineup, he fractured his finger.
You can imagine how much he was itching to begin this season.
“I know he was excited to get the thing going,” Snitker said. “It was tough on him watching so much baseball last year because the guy really likes to play.”
The Braves, of course, missed him. They were a deep team, but they felt the loss of his bat, glove and personality. His start to this season has been a huge boost for the Braves.
Each season, fans inevitably begin asking why Albies won’t simply ditch the left side and only hit from the right side.
Is there something to it that, if he were only a right-handed hitter, he wouldn’t be the Ozzie Albies fans know and love?
Not exactly.
“I’d say if I hit only on the right side, I’m just going to keep doing the same thing: Kill the ball,” Albies said, laughing. “But yeah, like I said, I love the switch-hitting part. It’s fun.”
