I got my first live look at Albies in a doubleheader at Pawtucket on May 14th. Albies ranked as the #59 preseason top 125 prospect at 2080 baseball. The first things that stood out with Albies was that he was a 19 year old, switch-hitting shortstop in Triple-A; hitting at the top of the lineup;  easily making him one of the youngest – if not the youngest – player in the International League.  The second thing that stood out was his undersized 5’9”,  160-pound frame.

Offensively, Albies has an all-fields,  line-drive approach with a long, smooth, slightly uphill path from both sides of the plate. The bat speed was evident, along with the impressive hand-eye coordination and contact ability for a switch-hitting youngster.  On top of the athleticism and future potential as an average switch-hitting middle infielder, Albies best tool is his double plus speed that can generate 70-grade run times to first base and offers base-stealing potential on the basepaths.

Based on this limited look on the defensive side,  I did not see reason to believe that Albies can stick at shortstop despite the clear athleticism. Albies displayed below-average arm strength across the diamond with poor accuracy. Albies appeared to drop down and rear back to sling it towards first base, and he seemed to lack fundamentals trying to backhand balls directly in front of him – he simply just did not make things look easy overall. I see a move to second base as his future. It doesn’t help that he’s got  Dansby Swanson breathing down his neck, in the proverbial sense, in Double-A, projecting as the shortstop of the future for the Braves.– Chaz Fiorino