{"id":85727,"date":"2024-09-16T16:23:29","date_gmt":"2024-09-16T20:23:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=85727"},"modified":"2024-09-16T16:23:29","modified_gmt":"2024-09-16T20:23:29","slug":"ozzie-albies-imminent-return","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/09\/16\/ozzie-albies-imminent-return\/","title":{"rendered":"Braves All-Star Hopes to Make a Return This Weekend"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"x1yztbdb\"><span class=\"x1lliihq x1plvlek xryxfnj x1n2onr6 x193iq5w xeuugli x1fj9vlw x13faqbe x1vvkbs x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xt4736n x1havqas x1f0sm9e x12qp5cl xzsf02u x1yc453h xudqn12 x3x7a5m\">The Atlanta Braves have been plagued by injuries this season. However, they may soon receive a boost with the return of second baseman <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/a\/albieoz01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-09-16_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ozzie Albies<\/a>. Albies has been sidelined since July 21 with a <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/07\/21\/braves-ozzie-albies-injured-list-wrist\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">fractured left wrist<\/a>, but he&#8217;s expected to rejoin the team possibly by this weekend. According to Mark Bowman of <em>MLB.com<\/em>, Albies could begin a rehab assignment as early as Tuesday.<\/span><\/div>\n<div>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Ozzie Albies could begin a rehab assignment tomorrow and join the Braves this weekend. Once he returns, it would make sense to move Merrifield to LF. Thought about 3B, but Urshela&#8217;s glove provides too much value.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/mlbbowman\/status\/1835763180103991318?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">September 16, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"x1e56ztr\"><span class=\"x1lliihq x1plvlek xryxfnj x1n2onr6 x193iq5w xeuugli x1fj9vlw x13faqbe x1vvkbs x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xt4736n x1havqas x1f0sm9e x12qp5cl xzsf02u x1yc453h xudqn12 x3x7a5m\">Notably, Albies will bat exclusively right-handed upon his return, since he can still swing effectively from that side despite the injury. Although he&#8217;s primarily a switch-hitter, Albies is willing to adapt and face right-handed pitchers from the right side. This unconventional approach is a testament to the team&#8217;s urgency as they fight for a postseason spot. Albies&#8217; willingness to adjust his batting stance could provide a crucial spark for the Braves in their late push.<\/span><\/div>\n<h2>Ozzie Albies Aiming to Return This Weekend<\/h2>\n<div class=\"x1yztbdb\">The Braves suffered a series of devastating blows, culminating in Albies&#8217; injury. Albies, the three-time All-Star second baseman, was batting .255 with eight home runs and 46 RBI, primarily from the No. 2 spot in the order, until his injury halted his season. Injuries had already sidelined <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/a\/acunaro01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-09-16_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ronald Acu\u00f1a Jr.<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/s\/stridsp01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-09-16_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Spencer Strider<\/a> for the season with surgery, and the team had just placed left-hander <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/f\/friedma01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-09-16_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Max Fried<\/a> on the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/07\/21\/braves-max-fried-injured-list-forearm\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">15-day injured list hours earlier<\/a>.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"x1yztbdb\"><span class=\"x1lliihq x1plvlek xryxfnj x1n2onr6 x193iq5w xeuugli x1fj9vlw x13faqbe x1vvkbs x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xt4736n x1havqas x1f0sm9e x12qp5cl xzsf02u x1yc453h xudqn12 x3x7a5m\">Notably, Albies had been excelling when batting right-handed. He has a .343 average and .912 OPS in 101 plate appearances, compared to a .225 average and .645 OPS when batting left-handed in 293 plate appearances. His decision to bat exclusively right-handed upon his return will be a fascinating development to watch.<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"x1e56ztr\">In Albies&#8217; absence, the Braves added <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/m\/merriwh01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-09-16_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Whit Merrifield<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/b\/biggica01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-09-16_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cavan Biggio<\/a> to the lineup.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"x1e56ztr\"><span class=\"x1lliihq x1plvlek xryxfnj x1n2onr6 x193iq5w xeuugli x1fj9vlw x13faqbe x1vvkbs x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xt4736n x1havqas x1f0sm9e x12qp5cl xzsf02u x1yc453h xudqn12 x3x7a5m\"> Merrifield has risen to the challenge, batting an impressive .269\/.374\/.370. The Braves eagerly await Albies&#8217; return as they battle to remain in contention for the National League Wild Card spot. Albies&#8217; impending comeback could provide a crucial boost to the team&#8217;s postseason hopes.<\/span><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Main Photo: \u00a9 Dale Zanine-Imagn Images<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Atlanta Braves have been plagued by injuries this season. However, they may soon receive a boost with the return of second baseman Ozzie Albies. Albies has been sidelined since July 21 with a fractured left wrist, but he&#8217;s expected to rejoin the team possibly by this weekend. According to Mark Bowman of MLB.com, Albies [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3686,"featured_media":85731,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[21,1071,35],"tags":[2640,218,143,1982,3820,1651],"class_list":["post-85727","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-braves","category-mlb","category-news","tag-cavan-biggio","tag-max-fried","tag-ozzie-albies","tag-ronald-acuna-jr","tag-spencer-strider","tag-whit-merrifield"],"modified_by":"Matt Graves","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85727","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3686"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85727"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85727\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/85731"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85727"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85727"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85727"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}