Braves Announce Ozzie Albies Decision Before Facing MLB-Best Brewers

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The Braves announced an Ozzie Albies decision before facing the MLB-best Milwaukee Brewers in a high-profile matchup.

Ozzie Albies is out of the field Saturday for the Atlanta Braves, sliding to designated hitter and batting fifth against the Milwaukee Brewers, one day after the 80-win Brewers edged Atlanta in 2-1 thriller.

The move slots Mauricio Dubón in at second base as the NL East-leading Braves try to pull even in their three-game series against the Milwaukee, who owns the best record in baseball with a .620 winning percentage heading into their 130th game of the season Saturday. The game will also be No. 130 for the 75-54 Braves.

Atlanta sits four games clear of the Philadelphia Phillies in the National League East. Milwaukee is 80-49 and first in the NL Central, six games up on the Chicago Cubs. The two clubs enter Saturday tied at 2-2 in the season series, with Atlanta taking the first two meetings in June and Milwaukee answering with the last two, including Friday’s series opener.

Ozzie Albies’ Glove Gets a Break

Albies enters Saturday hitting .251 with 20 home runs, 65 RBI and a .726 OPS across 128 games. It’s his first 20-homer season since 2023, a power number built almost entirely while playing second base rather than DH, a role he’s rarely occupied this year. Saturday will be just his second appearance at designated hitter in 2026.

Over his last seven games, Albies is 4-for-25 with a single RBI, and his average has cooled to .143 over his last 15 games, a sharp comedown from the power surge that carried him to the 20-homer mark. Saturday’s move to DH removes defensive responsibilities from the equation entirely, prioritizing his bat in a run-producing spot without also asking him to range across the middle infield for nine innings.

Friday didn’t help. The Braves managed just one run on eight hits in the narrow loss at American Family Field, with Jacob Misiorowski tossing six shutout innings to beat Atlanta’s Chris Sale. William Contreras went 4-for-4 with an RBI for Milwaukee, while Michael Harris II’s eighth-inning single accounted for Atlanta’s only run.

Dubón’s Move to Second Base Reshapes the Infield

By shifting Albies to DH, Dubón, who started at shortstop Friday, is pushed over to second, with Jim Jarvis sliding into shortstop. Ronald Acuña Jr. stays in right field, batting second after leading off Friday’s series opener.

The construction keeps a lefty-leaning top of the order — Drake Baldwin, Matt Olson and Harris — in place against Milwaukee’s right-handed starter, Logan Henderson, while still finding a spot for Albies’ switch-hitting bat. The decision gets Dubón’s glove into the middle infield while keeping Albies’ bat in the lineup.

Milwaukee’s offense has punished mistakes all season, and Atlanta’s coaching staff appears to be betting that a rested, DH-only Albies gives the lineup a better chance to compete.

What’s clear is the intent behind manager Walt Weiss’s decision — rest Albies’ legs, keep his bat working, and lean on Dubón’s defensive versatility to hold the middle infield together against a Brewers club that’s given opponents very little room for error all season.

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