It’s been a tough season all around in Atlanta. The club has lost four of its top five starters (Chris Sale, Reynaldo Lopez, Spencer Schwellenbach, and AJ Smith-Shawver) to the injured list so far, with Spencer Strider having spent time on the shelf earlier in the year as well. The offense has produced well below expectations despite brilliant performances from Ronald Acuna Jr. and the club’s catching tandem, as well as the ever-steady production of Matt Olson at first base. The bullpen, typically anchored by Raisel Iglesias, has looked uncharacteristically shaky. For all the things that have gone wrong this year, perhaps none have been as frustrating for the club as the struggles of Ozzie Albies.
Albies, 28, is a three-time All-Star who entered the 2025 season with a career 108 wRC+ and more than 20 career WAR according to both FanGraphs and Baseball Reference. He has not looked at all like himself this season. Across 90 games and 383 plate appearances, he’s slashed just .223/.292/.315 (72 wRC+). His expected numbers (.291 xwOBA) are stronger than his actual production (.274 wOBA), but both figures are well below par this season. That’s come in spite of a strikeout rate (15.4%) that’s lower than his career norms and a walk rate (8.1%) that’s actually the highest of his career.
With his plate discipline numbers looking better than ever, the culprit behind Albies’ lack of productivity is clear: power. The infielder has just six home runs this year and 19 extra-base hits total. His .092 ISO (slugging minus average) is the seventh-lowest figure in baseball and trails even contact-oriented bats like Nico Hoerner and Bryson Stott. It’s not impossible to be a productive bat with that level of power; Hoerner has a 104 wRC+ with an ISO just two points higher than Albies, while J.P. Crawford has an identical ISO and a wRC+ of 128. It’s a profile that requires even better plate discipline numbers than Albies has, however. Crawford’s production is boosted by an excellent 13.3% walk rate, while Hoerner strikes out at a microscopic 6.7% clip.
Aside from that, both hitters also carry BABIPs over .300. Albies sits at just .251 this season. That’s very low and should be expected to come up at least a little bit, but the switch-hitter has a BABIP of just .289 for his career and has posted a figure over .300 in a full season just once before, in the 2019 season. Rather than better fortune on batted balls, Albies’ previous production came by way of 25-to-30 homer thump when healthy. Unfortunately, that power has disappeared. Albies hit just 10 homers in 99 games last year, and that might’ve looked like an anomaly at the time, but this year’s lack of pop now makes it look like the start of a new normal.
If Albies can’t turn things around soon, how should the Braves approach their second baseman? He’s proven capable of being a star when at his best, so the idea of trading him at such a low point in his value would be difficult to swallow. Declining his $7MM club option for 2026 seems like it should be off the table entirely, particularly given the $4MM buyout that effectively makes it a $3MM decision.
At the same time, Atlanta has just three more seasons of team control over Acuna, and 2026 will be Sale’s final year before he reaches free agency unless he agrees to another extension. The Braves have been clear that they don’t plan to sell much this summer, if they do at all. But the offseason will see players like Iglesias and Marcell Ozuna depart for free agency, necessitating a reconstruction of the roster anyway. Could seeing about an upgrade at second base be a sensible part of that offseason retool?
With so many of Atlanta’s most important pieces nearing the open market in the next few years, it can be argued that the Braves would be better served trying to find more certain production at the keystone by targeting a player like Gleyber Torres in free agency. The flip side of that, of course, is that Albies’ contract is exceptionally cost-effective. Torres’ $15MM salary with the Tigers this year is already more than double Albies’ salary for next season if his option is picked up, and Torres appears ticketed for a much bigger payday in his return to free agency this winter. Rolling the dice on Albies could be easier to stomach if other pieces of the Braves’ current core like Michael Harris II and Jurickson Profar can put up big numbers in the second half and assuage concerns over another season where the team is mired in an offensive malaise.
How do MLBTR readers think Atlanta’s front office should approach the situation they’ve found themselves in with Albies? Should they stick with him going forward due to his potential upside and cheap salary, or should they see what they can get on the trade market in hopes of replacing him with a steadier option? Have your say in the poll below:
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