Ozzie Albies is the most underrated player on the Braves

Ozzie Albies is one of the very best second basemen in all of baseball.

The Atlanta Braves have themselves an underrated star in second basemen Ozzie Albies.

Admittedly, there are stars galore scattered all across the diamond for the Braves. First baseman Freddie Freeman has been the face of the franchise since his breakout season in 2013. Outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. is the most talented player on the team. Once he’s gets everything in order, he may become the best player in the National League. He’s only in his early 20s, just like Albies.

There are other excellent players for the Braves, too. Ender Inciarte and newcomer Marcell Ozuna are MLB All-Stars in Atlanta outfield. Austin Riley has a power bat that reminds us of what “El Oso Blanco” used to do for the Braves. We’re pretty sure Riley’s first blast of the season still hasn’t landed yet. We’re also in the midst of getting a breakout season from shortstop Dansby Swanson.

And that’s just the position players. If you look at the pitching staff, obviously there are holes in the back-end of the rotation, but Mike Soroka and Max Fried give Atlanta a one-two they haven’t had in decades. The bullpen was rebuilt on the fly under general manager Alex Anthopoulos, and it has performed well thus far in 2020. But we still aren’t giving Albies enough credit as we should.

Ozzie Albies is everything the Atlanta Braves could want at second base.

Albies is under contract in Atlanta through the 2025 MLB season, as he signed a deal way under his value at $35 million for seven years ahead of the 2019 campaign. In two full big league seasons, Albies has been a National League All-Star in 2018 and a Silver Slugger recipient in 2019. The switch-hitting second baseman has 55 career home runs and 190 runs batted in.

In the normal batting order, Albies hits in the two-spot behind his best friend on the team Acuña hitting lead off and Freeman batting in the three hole. While it’s excellent to have NL MVP candidates hitting on either side of you, it has to be difficult knowing you’re getting the pitcher’s best stuff because he thinks he can get you out easier than he would with Acuña or Freeman.

What also goes unnoticed is Albies bats predominantly from the left side of the plate. He’s a better hitter from the right side with considerably more pop in his bat. Given the competitor he is, he’s not going to give up switch-hitting anytime soon. Maybe one day he’ll be as ambidextrous at the plate as Chipper Jones was in his hall of fame career spent entirely with Atlanta? That’s the goal!

Albies will steal the Braves about 15 bases in a full 162-game season. He nearly hit .300 a season ago, as Albies slashed .295/.352/.500 at the plate in his first Silver Slugger campaign. Let’s not overlook he’s giving the Braves near-Gold Glove-level defense at second base. He’s formed quite a defensive double play tandem with Swanson the last few years. Defensively, they’re excellent.

Overall, Albies is the type of player Atlanta needs if the Braves ever want to win big in October again. The last time the Braves advanced in a postseason series, Albies was the ripe age of four living down in his native Curacao, probably rooting for the Braves because Andruw Jones starred for the big league club in centerfield. Albies will be key for the Braves to win the NL Pennant.

You can overlook Albies all you want, but you will be doing a disservice to yourself in doing so.