At some point, the Atlanta Braves will eventually get back over .500 and thrust themselves into the NL postseason picture. In the meantime, we have to mentally prepare ourselves once again for manager Brian Snitker to make a mockery of a game in the final frames and for second baseman Ozzie Albies to have as many hits as you and I had combined in Pittsburgh over this past weekend. It was brutal!
Atlanta had been playing better baseball of late, but dropping two of the three on the road at the Pittsburgh Pirates, fresh off firing their long-term manager Derek Shelton, is just not acceptable. Snitker probably needs to retire after this season. I would also argue that Albies needs to give up being a switch hitter out of hubris and get back to playing some darn good baseball for once, man!
Here is how the Braves will line up ahead of the first game in the series vs. the Washington Nationals.
- 1. LF Alex Verdugo
- 2. 3B Austin Riley
- 3. 1B Matt Olson
- 4. DH Marcell Ozuna
- 5. CF Michael Harris II
- 6. C Sean Murphy
- 7. 2B Ozzie Albies
- 8. RF Eli White
- 9. SS Nick Allen
- SP Grant Holmes
I would totally agree with David O'Brien of The Athletic that Albies should be hitting lower than No. 7.
#Braves open four-game home series with Nats, after a pretty brutal series loss at Pittsburgh. (I’d drop Albies even lower in the lineup.) https://t.co/wueteP6VVP
— David O'Brien (@DOBrienATL) May 12, 2025
Until proven otherwise, Albies is a walking out when hitting from the left-handed side of the plate.
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Ozzie Albies needs to leave batting left-handed behind for good
Being able to switch hit and provide some level of power at second base has given Albies tremendous staying power with the Braves. The Curaçao native probably only wants to play for this franchise. People tend to forget how impactful Andruw Jones was on the small Caribbean island back in the day. Unfortunately, Albies is no longer an every-day player should he still continue to switch hit.
The Braves' batting order is a well-oiled machine, but one with many moving parts. It does not serve Atlanta to have an undersized middle infielder popping up to shortstop on the first pitch like fellow Curaçao native Andrelton Simmons made a career out of. There are plenty of quality left-handed hitters in this Braves lineup, but Albies is no longer one. He hits so much better from the right side...
Even though the game is starting to pass Snitker by, I do empathize with him having to do what he never wants to do and tinker with his lineup daily. He prefers to set it and forget it like Taco MacArthur, but it now living a life that is forever unclean like the one Rodney Ruxin used to live. There is a reason Albies has gradually been replaced as many Braves fans' favorite player, and it has to do with his bat.
I would love nothing more than to see Albies hit a right-hander's slider right-handed over the fence.