Atlanta Braves second baseman Ozzie Albies told reporters this weekend that he intends to return to the lineup before the regular season concludes on Sept. 29. There's just one catch: Albies, a natural switch-hitter, would be limited to batting righty.
"Everybody on the team is asking me when I'm going to be back," Albies said, according to MLB.com's Mark Bowman. "I want to make sure I can just check the boxes that need to be checked to be 100% ready to play, and that's it."
Albies, 27, has not appeared at the big-league level since July 21 after suffering a fractured left wrist. That wrist continues to bother Albies, albeit only when he's swinging from the left side. For his career, he's been a better hitter from the right side, posting a .947 OPS from that side as opposed to a .738 OPS from the left side.
In 90 games prior to Albies' deactivation, he had hit .258/.310/.407 (98 OPS+) with eight home runs, 46 runs batted in, and eight stolen bases. His contributions had been worth an estimated 1.3 Wins Above Replacement, according to Baseball Reference.
Both Albies and Braves manager Brian Snitker told reporters they had not discussed the possibility of the hitter batting right-handed. As such, it's to be seen if the Braves' braintrust will be as into the idea as Albies himself. The Braves do have incentive to see if Albies can pull it off: they enter Sunday night's contest against the Los Angeles Dodgers with a half-game lead over the New York Mets for the final National League wild-card spot.
The Braves have, as of late, been reliant upon veteran Whit Merrifield at the keystone. Merrifield, 35, has batted .269/.374/.370 (109 OPS+) in 36 games with Atlanta. He joined the Braves earlier this summer after being released by the Philadelphia Phillies.
