Braves All-Star 2B Ozzie Albies Knows Hitting…and Exotic Fish???

The show put Ozzie Albies's expertise to the test in the only way that makes sense for a Braves second baseman with roughly 100 koi at his house. Rich pulled up six photographs of exotic fish and asked Albies to name them.

The version of Albies who showed up for the game was the same version that has hit .322 to lead Atlanta in batting. Patient. Mostly accurate. Frustrated when he missed.

He got five of the six right.

The first fish almost broke him. Albies recognized it instantly, had a friend who used to own them, even had a story about a friend named Taylor whose order arrived dead before all the fish woke up and started swimming the next morning. What he could not do was remember the name. He called for time. He took the in-show pitch clock disengagement. He talked himself in circles trying to land on it.

"Give me one second, I'll get it for you," Albies said.

Rich offered a hint. It was the name of something thrown in the Olympics in track and field.

"That just blind-spotted me," Albies said.

He moved on, vowing to come back. He named the arowana on the second photo, calling it a lucky fish. He recognized the clearfin lionfish with a Deuce Bigalow assist from Rich. He got the flowerhorn cold and warned that it is mean enough to fight everything else in the tank. He landed on angelfish with a Heaven hint and finished by calling a peacock bass on sight.

Then back to the first one. Six letters. Starts with D.

"D. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Oh my god," Albies said. The on-screen pitch clock ran out before he could spit out the word.

It was the discus fish.

"How can I forget the discus fish?" Albies said.

He took the strike philosophically, in the same way he took an actual at-bat earlier in the week.

"I had my first miss actually a couple days ago," Albies said, referring to a check-swing call. "It was like the sixth-inning tie game, and Olson, one of our best hitters on the team, was coming behind me. So I was like, if I get the first, he can do something special here."

He swung the bat because the situation called for swinging. He admitted afterward that the pitch was probably a little outside.

Five for six on fish. Wrong on the at-bat for the first time, by his own count. Albies took both with the same composed shrug.