Young Atlanta Braves infielder Ozzie Albies found himself with a new fan this week.
The Atlanta Braves hit a crossroads in early July of this season. While they were hovering around .500, the extremes of the play within the National League had them double-digit games back of even the second Wild Card slot. So with a host of young players from what has been the top-rated minor league system in the game, the Braves chose to “sell off” pieces over July and August and begin bringing up their young players. First and foremost among those who had not yet seen major league time at that point was infielder Ozzie Albies, a young player considered among the game’s top 10-15 prospects entering the 2017 season.
On Tuesday, actor Charlie Sheen weighed in on his impressions of Albies’ performance thus far in his career:
newsflash,
— Charlie Sheen (@charliesheen) September 28, 2017
@albiesozzie97
stay healthy
and awe summ
young man,
and we'll see you
in the HOF in 20 yrs!!
⚾️©⚾️
#LethalPoetry
What Albies has done
A native of Curacao, Albies is just 20 years old. He opened this season with the Atlanta Braves’ AAA affiliate in Gwinnett. After fracturing his non-throwing elbow last September, Albies went through a very fast rehab following the surgery to re-set his arm, and his early season was evidence of that, as he struggled with his swing, especially his left-handed swing. Coming into the Memorial Day weekend with Syracuse, Albies was hitting .264/.313/.390 with 14 stolen bases as a positive, but also a 6.5% walk rate and a 22.1% strikeout rate, which were both odd numbers for Albies.
He picked things up from that point, hitting .301/.344/.480 until he was called up on August 1st of this season. While he struggled out of the gate with Atlanta, Albies has corrected to hit .281/.354/.443 with 8 doubles, 5 triples, 5 home runs, 7 stolen bases (on 8 attempts), a 9.1% walk rate, and a 15.7% strikeout rate in his first exposure to the major leagues.
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For a switch-hitter who is generously listed at 5’9″ tall, generating that kind of power against major league pitching has surprised many outside of the Atlanta Braves organization. However, those within the Braves organization have seen this level of play from Albies for years, in spite of the comments about his size in prospect rankings and such.
On the season combined between AAA and Atlanta this season, Albies has played 151 games going into the final series of the year with 678 plate appearances, 98 runs, 29 doubles, 13 triples, 14 home runs, 67 RBI, 28 stolen bases (on just 31 attempts), and hit .283/.338/.441 as a 20 year old. It’s easy to see what Charlie found so intriguing.
Sheen’s baseball love
While many may dismiss Sheen for his oddity of persona or just as a fanboy actor, he is actually a significant fan of the game of baseball. This summer, he sold off a number of amazing pieces of baseball history, including Babe Ruth‘s 1927 World Series ring and the contract that sold Babe from the Red Sox to the Yankees. He’s also been the owner of the infamous Honus Wagner baseball card at one time, and still hosts a significant collection that was not part of this summer’s auction.
Of course, Sheen’s most memorable contribution for many baseball fans will always remain the video above – his role as “Wild Thing” Ricky Vaughn in the 1989 baseball classic “Major League”, where he portrays a fireballing Indians pitcher. With the Indians having just won their 100th game and fighting toward another World Series berth, we could be hearing more from Charlie on the game soon.