Shortstop Ozzie Albies just turned 19 in January and has played just 155 professional games, none above Single-A, so he won’t be breaking spring camp with the Braves no matter how well he plays in the Graprefruit League.
But Albies has made such an impression with the Braves early in camp that manager Fredi Gonzalez joked with Bobby Cox about taking Albies back to Atlanta with them.
‘Hey, ‘Skip,’ you took a 19-year old back with you, didn’t you?’” Gonzalez said he told Cox.
That was center fielder Andruw Jones, who was 19-years old when he made his Braves debut in August 1996 and became a star center fielder over the next 11 seasons.
Albies is a top prospect so it’s not out of the question he could join the Braves at some point this season, though 2017 is more realistic. Either way, Albies already has fans among Braves coaches.
“He’s the talk of the coaching staff,” Gonzalez said. “Every night after we come back in guys talk about him. The maturity, the talent, the ability—he’s pretty good. He doesn’t come across (as green). His baseball I.Q. is pretty good.”
Albie, a Curacao native, was an international signee by the Braves in 2013. He is ranked the No. 6 prospect in the Braves’ organization by Baseball America. Another shortstop in big-league camp, Dansby Swanson, is the organization’s top-rated prospect.
“The fun part is going to be the guys in the minor leagues to figure out who is going to play where,” Gonzalez said.
