BALTIMORE, MARYLAND – JULY 26: Ozzie Albies #1 of the Atlanta Braves tosses his bat after flying out in the third inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on July 26, 2026 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Ozzie Albies is having a fun season. I’m not sure it’s unequivocally a good season, but it’s been fun. His wRC+ is back in triple digits (now sitting at an even 100) while falling short of that mark in 2024 and 2025. His ISO is higher than both 2024 and 2025, and he’s already hit 17 dingers after finishing with 16 last year. His defense has been a positive for the first time since 2022, muffling the alarm bells going off about his aging with regard to that particular skillset.
And, of course, there’s the ever-present “Wizard of Ozzie” thing — though Albies generally outhit his xwOBA in every year from his debut through 2023 — he’s never done so by quite as much for this long. Seriously, he’s got a .320 wOBA and a .285 xwOBA as of me looking this morning. Only Pete Crow-Armstrong has a bigger outperformance with as many or more PAs; Albies is in the top 20 if you set the cutoff to 200-plus PAs this season.
But, there was yesterday’s game. Albies went 0-for-6 with a terrible defensive misplay that essentially turned what could have been a regulation win into a wacky, drawn-out extra innings affair that nonetheless gave the Braves a “W.” But, Albies didn’t even help in the extra innings portion, as he popped out with the bases loaded and one out after the Braves had taken a lead in the 11th. His xwOBA in the game was a sad .106. He had one meh liner that turned into a double play because of where it was hit, and four worst-in-class bits of contact to go with his strikeout.
Even without the error, it was his worst WPA game of the season. He had a few worse offensive WPA games, including his worst game ever in that regard in a one-run loss to the Padres in 2023, but when you combine the terrible stuff at the plate with that really bad error, it was a rough one.
Do you think, personally, this was has nadir as far as how he feels about his own contributions? If so, that’s kind of comforting, because the Braves won and everyone survived. Or, do you think there’s another game that felt worse from his perspective?