Ozzie Albies wasn’t supposed to be such a home-run threat, yet from the moment he arrived in the majors, he’s shown consistent pop beyond just gap power.
Albies reaches 20 homers Friday, taking lefty Patrick Corbin deep in the Braves’ eighth consecutive win. It’s his second consecutive season hitting 20 homers.
The 22-year-old has thrived in the 2-hole behind friend Ronald Acuna, where he’s tormented pitching and thrilled on the base paths.
The duo showed it Thursday, when Acuña’s single and steal quickly translated into a run on Albies’ homer. The latter handled duties himself Friday, putting the Braves up early on one of the league’s best southpaws.
It was Albies’ 50th career homer. He became the sixth-young Brave to reach that mark, following Hank Aaron, Acuna, Bob Horner, Andruw Jones and Eddie Mathews.
On the present-day Braves, Albies is the fourth player to reach 20 homers, joining Freddie Freeman, Josh Donaldson and Acuna, all of whom have a shot at 40. This is the first time since 2013 the Braves have had at least four players hit 20 homers (that team boasted five 20-plus homer bats).
“We definitely have some power,” Donaldson said. “Now Ozzie’s got 20. We have some guys who can hit the ball but I feel like we have some pretty quality hitters who can spray the ball around the yard.”
