{"id":8129,"date":"2024-11-14T08:53:41","date_gmt":"2024-11-14T08:53:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=8129"},"modified":"2024-11-14T08:53:41","modified_gmt":"2024-11-14T08:53:41","slug":"unlocking-potential-ozzie-albies-should-look-to-nlcs-mvp-for-switch-hitting-growth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=8129","title":{"rendered":"UNLOCKING POTENTIAL: Ozzie Albies Should Look to NLCS MVP for Switch-Hitting Growth"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/figure>\n
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Ozzie Albies played nine games of the season as a right-handed only hitter.<\/p>\n

\"St.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Ever since Ozzie Albies debuted, the Atlanta Braves second baseman has been a far better hitter against lefties than he has against righties. Because of this, there have been countless articles debating whether he should give up switch-hitting entirely.<\/p>\n

This September, Braves fans got a glimpse of what a future full-time right-handed Ozzie would look like. However, did the nine-game sample prove that he shold abandon his left-handed swing, or could he use the Dodgers NLCS MVP as a model for what to do going forward?<\/p>\n

Ozzie Albies should alter his switch-hitting approach<\/h2>\n

Before his nine-game stint this September, Ozzie Albies had only hit righty against a righty 17 times, and only six of those plate appearances were against an actual pitcher. He slashed .200\/.333\/.800<\/strong> in those six PAs.<\/p>\n

Once Albies got back from his abbreviated rehab assignment, the temporary full-time righty got 33 plate appearances, and only slashed .226\/.273\/.452<\/strong> (98 wRC+). This was a higher wRC+ than Albies had as a left-handed hitter, but a far cry from his 136 wRC+ against lefties.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/i\/status\/1840815093757419536<\/p>\n

One big difference between Albies hitting righty against lefties and hitting righty against righties is his exit velocity and bat speed.<\/p>\n

Against lefties, Albies swung his bat 69.4 MPH and averaged a 91.7 MPH EV. Against righties hitting lefty, he swung his bat 68.8 MPH and averaged an 88.4 MPH EV. Yet, as a righty facing righties, Albies 68.8 MPH bat speed and 86.3 MPH EV looked much more like his left-handed swing than it does his right-handed swing.<\/p>\n

Of course, it’s important to remember that Albies wasn’t fully healthy (which is why he abandoned hitting left-handed for the final part of the season). His six appearances against lefties in September also showed a slower bat speed that was more in line with his left-handed swing than his typical right-handed swing.<\/p>\n

Albies has already said he has no plans to ditch switch-hitting, and his results against righties as a non-switch hitter may justify him continuing to hit left-handed going forward. However, the soon-to-be 28-year-old should at least consider situational switch-hitting.<\/p>\n

One switch-hitter who has done this for years now is Los Angeles Dodgers utility player, Tommy<\/strong> Edman<\/strong>, who also took home the NLCS MVP this season. Edman has been a much stronger right-handed hitter in his career, with a career 124 wRC+ <\/strong>against lefties, compared to a 92 wRC+<\/strong> against righties.<\/p>\n

Since 2021, Edman has taken 70 plate appearances against righties as a right-handed hitter, including five this postseason against Jeremiah Estrada, who has a filthy splitter, and Tommy Kahnle, who throws changeups 80% of the time.<\/p>\n

Edman has opted to hit righty against righties with dominant offspeed stuff that he might struggle to hit left-handed. Although the results haven’t fully worked out in his favor, Edman has a .227 AVG when facing righties as a righty, his xBA is over 40 points higher than his actual average.<\/p>\n

Albies could copy this model, primarily switch-hitting and sticking to the platoon advantage, but hitting right-handed in higher leverage situations against pitchers with plus-plus stuff, like he did this September against Edwin Diaz.<\/p>\n

\n

\u2014 MLB (@MLB) September 30, 2024<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n

While Braves fans finally got their wish seeing Ozzie drop switch-hitting for a time, it’s worth it for the franchise cornerstone to see what he can do when fully healthy, if only on a situational basis.<\/p>\n

More from House That Hank Built<\/h2>\n
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manual<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Atlanta Braves second baseman Ozzie Albies should look at Tommy Edman’s switch-hitting decisions when trying become more versatile next season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":8130,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8129","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\nUNLOCKING POTENTIAL: Ozzie Albies Should Look to NLCS MVP for Switch-Hitting Growth - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=8129\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UNLOCKING POTENTIAL: Ozzie Albies Should Look to NLCS MVP for Switch-Hitting Growth - 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