Why Albies Has Been (And Continues To Be) Undrrated By Most

[clvclv]

The guys at FanGraphs have been on him almost since Day One, yet everyone else (including many of us) have been way late to the scene...

2015 (Had him at #34 overall BEFORE his first taste of full-season ball):

"34. Ozhaino Albies, SS, Atlanta Braves

Hit: 20/55, Raw Power: 30/40, Game Power: 20/35, Run: 65/65, Field: 50/60, Throw: 60/60, FV: 55
Scouting Report: Albies home country Curacao has produced a great recent group of quick-twitch infielders with Andrelton Simmons, Jonathan Schoop and Jurickson Profar, while nearby Aruba has recently produced Xander Bogaerts. Albies is next in line, with some scouts comparing him to a smaller Francisco Lindor or Rafael Furcal with less arm strength. He’s 5-foot-9/150, just turned 18 and has only played one year of short-season ball, but scouts are already tossing 60’s on his hit tool, along with 60 or more on his speed, glove and arm. Feel free to scroll around this list and try to find another example of these kinds of tools; that and universally positive reports are why I’m so bullish on this kid. Power isn’t a big part of game and likely will never be, but he does everything else so well at such a young age, that no one seems to care. He has excellent feel for the strike zone and the bat head, plenty of bat speed, knowledge of when to use his gap power and when to keep the ball on the ground; his full-season debut in 2015 is arguably the most anticipated in baseball."

[UNCBlue012]

20/55 hit? lol

[Julio3000]

He's got terrific bat-to-ball skills. Sometimes he'll slap it and run, and sometimes he'll barrel the ball up, but he always seems to put together a decent AB.

He's not Simmons on defense, but he has a lot of the same advanced feel for position and anticipation that Tron has. I watched him a handful of times last year, and it was shocking how polished he was, considering that he was so young for the league.

I'm pretty conservative in my assessment of the kids, but Ozzie just screamed big leagues to me. IMO, he's legit. If anything, he's a little undersold right now.

[UNCBlue012]

He's got terrific bat-to-ball skills. Sometimes he'll slap it and run, and sometimes he'll barrel the ball up, but he always seems to put together a decent AB.

He's not Simmons on defense, but he has a lot of the same advanced feel for position and anticipation that Tron has. I watched him a handful of times last year, and it was shocking how polished he was, considering that he was so young for the league.

I'm pretty conservative in my assessment of the kids, but Ozzie just screamed big leagues to me. IMO, he's legit. If anything, he's a little undersold right now.

That's how I feel. I think Swanson will be just fine, I don't really question his advancement through the system into a big league guy, but I have no doubts that Ozzie will be a productive and above-average MLB player.