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Atlanta Braves Ozzie Albies Taking Cuts In The Cages

By Jeff Schafer

Mar 12, 2016; Lake Buena Vista, FL, USA; Atlanta Braves shortstop Ozzie Albies (87) tries to bunt during the third inning of a spring training baseball game against the Washington Nationals at Champion Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 12, 2016; Lake Buena Vista, FL, USA; Atlanta Braves shortstop Ozzie Albies (87) tries to bunt during the third inning of a spring training baseball game against the Washington Nationals at Champion Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports /
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Braves Albies Swinging Away

We’re less then two weeks away from the Atlanta Braves pitchers and catchers reporting to The Wide World of Sports Complex…February 14.  We’re just barely over two weeks away from the Braves positional players reporting to Orlando, Florida…February 17.

It seems to be a trend now that players show up to camp early instead of waiting until the official date.  2017 will most likely be no different.  We’re already seeing many players say on social media that they are either already down in Florida or on their way.

The Braves first 2017 Spring Training game is against the Toronto Blue Jays on February 25.  Excited yet?

Ozzie Albies is one of 20 players that is a non-roster invitee who is invited to the 2017 ST.  He one of four positional players the Braves are inviting (not counting the catchers).

After coming off a serious elbow injury, Albies is “patiently waiting” for the 2017 season.  On September 7, 2016 Albies fractured his elbow while taking a swing.  This ended his 2016 season and looked as though ruined his chances of being with the Atlanta Braves to start the 2017 season.

The Braves have Sean Rodriguez and Jace Peterson slotted in for the second base position…at least the start of the season.

If Albies is ready, it could put the Braves in a selling role.  Rodriguez could be a potential trade candidate to teams in need of a utility guy.  Though the Braves love these types of players and will most likely keep Sean Rod, a huge return could be nice if Coppy is offered it.  The Braves signed him to a two-year deal worth $11.5 this past offseason.

Ozzie probably has a lot of work to do if he’s looking to grab the second base position out of Spring Training.  If he has an amazing month, I still think the Braves send him to Gwinnett.

It looks as though Albies is ahead of schedule…not sure of his schedule…as he’s already hitting off a tee.  A player hitting off a tee usually means a player is rehabbing and not ready for on field batting practice.  It could be that he’s hitting off a tee because that’s all that’s going on right now OR it’s all the doctors are allowing at this time.  Either way, this is a good sign!

The elbow looks good, the swing looks good, the sound of the ball off the bat is amazing.

In this video we see five cuts from Albies, three of which hit exactly in the middle of the backstop…one hit we can’t see.

One other thing I noticed in this video is that he’s still wearing the #5 shirt.  If you remember a few weeks ago Albies posted a video of him running the ladder.  In that, we saw at the very end of the video his back and the shirt-jersey was #5.  Now this.

Next: Looking Ahead At The Waves Of Braves Prospects

He has worn a couple different jersey numbers throughout his Braves career — #2, 7, 20, 87 (in Atlanta’s Spring Training in 2016).  It’s going to be interesting to see what number he chooses for 2017 Spring Training, and the 2017 season.

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