Is it time for the Atlanta Braves to tackle Ozzie Albies’ defense?

Last April, Ozzie Albies’ defense caused some concern when it finished the month with -5 OAA, the fourth-worst in baseball. At the time, I looked at the footage and found out that he was getting the balls he needed, but he wasn’t making the plays. I concluded that it was probably a fluke and his defense should return to average.

Unfortunately, that was not the case for the Atlanta Braves 2B. While the start to his 2024 season hasn’t been as rough, he has been among the worst defensive 2Bs in baseball. Is it time for the Braves to address their defense? What can even be done to fix it?

When Ozzie Albies first came to the majors, his defense was excellent. In his first full season in the big leagues, he accumulated a career-high 12 OAAs and averaged 1.75 OAAs from 2019-22.

While he wasn’t necessarily Gold Glove material outside of his 2018, he was a reliable defensive player who would make the plays he needed to.

Last season, Albies took a huge step back, finishing among the worst 2Bs in the league with -10 OAA.

This year, he’s on pace to match that, as he’s worth -3 OAA in 41 games into the Braves’ season. I noticed last year that he was coming at balls to his right, but without putting a glove on it. Overall last season, he was worth -7 OAA on balls to 3B.

This season, he just doesn’t make it to the balls. Of course, because of the camera angle, it’s impossible to tell how hard he jumped on the ball. But here are some plays he just couldn’t attend.

And here are some strange pieces. On this single from Luis Arraez, he chooses not to hang it on a line, but rather to step back to line it up on a jump. This allows Arraez, who has what it takes to reach for an infield single.

It’s Albies’ only mistake, an easy play that he sent flying.