Atlanta Braves get mammo shot from smallest player

If you were to check the StatCast numbers, you would think that Ozzie Albies had just eked out a homer in the right field corner.  It was anything but.

The Atlanta Braves were having trouble breaking through against Mets starter Chris Flexen on Monday afternoon.  Through 3 innings, they had only managed an infield single off the bat of Dansby Swanson.

Until the 4th began, that is.

Ozzie Albies led off that inning with a laser shot off of Flexen that wasn’t  the kind of underspin lob shot that we’ve seen him hit a lot of this Summer – this ball was barrelled, albeit with a 3-Wood given the pitch location.

Here’s the alleged tale of the tape:

Three things:

• The ball bounced off the facade of the second deck – roughly hitting the letter ‘E’ in the  “Pro Player” advertising sign.
• Note 370 sign in right center field.
• Note the StubHub ad on the wall in the RF corner.

For 2015, Citi Field’s fences were modified.  That 375 sign, for example, had been 375 until then.  The RF corner was 330 and remains so, but the mesh-fenced wall in right field mimics the shape and angle of the 2nd deck facade… that stub-hub “notch” does not.

It’s hard to guess, but I do think Albies was short-changed by a few feet.  I suggested facetiously on twitter that it would have been 450 feet without hitting the sign, but something in the 380-385 range might be a reasonable guess.

But even so – Albies put all of his 5’9″ (that tall??) and 160 lbs. into that pitch and shocked the Mets’ faithful with the blast.

Next: So he's coming back?

That gave the Braves a 1-0 lead, and as the game gets late, there’s a whole lot of offense that has been added to his effort:  8-2 now in the middle of the eighth inning as Lucas Sims looks to be getting another W.