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Ian D'Andrea, CC BY-SA 2.0Albies Just Answered Every Question About This Lineup With Two Swings
Ellis Magnolia wrote this morning that the Braves' offense went quiet and nobody noticed. Ozzie Albies noticed. He hit two home runs, drove in three, and ended Aaron Ashby's perfect record with a walk-off shot that made the whole argument look premature.
Ellis wrote a whole column this morning about how the Braves' offense went quiet and nobody noticed.
Ozzie Albies noticed.
Three-for-four. Two homers. Three RBI. Three of the Braves' four runs tonight came off his bat. The rest of the lineup went 3-for-27. Didn't matter. Albies carried an entire roster on two swings and a walk-off against a pitcher who hadn't lost all season.
Aaron Ashby was 10-0. Was.
That's the receipt. You don't end the best reliever record in baseball by accident. You end it because one guy in the lineup decided the structural decline conversation could wait.
Ellis's numbers weren't wrong. The June OPS dip is real. The RISP struggles are documented. But here's what the spreadsheet misses: this team has a player who can erase a bad week with one at-bat. The Braves don't need every bat to wake up. They need the right bat to show up when it counts.
I was at 85% on these Braves being the best team in baseball. I'm at 87% now. The June slide shook the surface. Tonight Albies reminded everybody what's underneath.
48-27. First in the East. And the guy Ellis was worried about just went nuclear on a Saturday night.
Tell me the offense has a problem. I dare you.
The Tilt
The Braves' June offensive slump is a narrative, not a diagnosis, and Albies just ripped up the chart.
— Dex Ponce
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