Rule Gives Ozzie Albies Southern League Batting Crown

Cubs infielder Chesny Young‘s run at back-to-back batting championships was foiled by Rule 9.22 (a).

Young, the Carolina League batting champ in 2015, hit .303 this year—which appeared to be the enough to lead the Southern League, six points ahead of the Reds’ Sebastian Elizalde. But Ozzie Albies, who did not have enough plate appearances to qualify because of his midseason stint in Triple-A, is the actual champion.

Because of his time in Triple-A, Braves middle infielder Ozzie Albies didn’t get enough plate appearances to meet Southern League qualifying standards. He missed the requisite amount by only seven plate appearances. As Rule 9.22 (a) allows, giving Albies an 0-for-7 for those seven plate appearances would drop his Double-A average from .322 to .315, still enough to lead the league in batting. It also allowed Albies to top Young for the league’s on-base percentage lead.

So the Southern League batting champ is Albies at .322. He also led the league with a .391 on-base percentage.

Two other league leaders affected by Rule 9.22 (a). St. Lucie’s Tomas Nido (Mets) led the Florida State League with a .320 average (topping Dunedin’s Richard Urena) and Johnson City’s Caleb Lopes (Cardinals) finishes as the Appalachian League’s on-base percentage leader at .488. He topped Burlington’s Kort Peterson.