Ozzie Albies believes the Mets have some big mouths.
And the Braves second baseman enjoys shutting them up.
After the Braves tattooed the Mets in a doubleheader Saturday to improve 8-1 against their division rivals this year, Albies sounded off on his enjoyment in beating the Mets.
“A lot of pleasure, of course, because they always say they’re going to beat us,” Albies said Saturday of beating the Mets, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “That’s all I can say. I won’t say much.”
It’s unknown who “they” is specifically or which comments irked the 2023 All-Star, but it’s clear there is still animosity between the Braves and the Mets.
The Braves may also feel the Mets get more headlines and buzz nationally, as there certainly were plenty of pundits pegging the Mets as division favorites and potential top World Series contenders entering this year despite Atlanta winning the division five straight years.
Albies certainly had his fun Saturday against the Mets when he went 5-for-9 with two homers and eight RBIs, spanning the 21-3 and 6-0 Braves victories.
The 26-year-old has hit 19 career homers against the Mets, his most against any team, and owns a career .244/.289/.446/.735 slash line against the struggling Queens-based club.
The Braves have outscored the Mets by a 34-3 margin in this four-game set, while winning the first three games entering Sunday’s series finale at Citi Field.
Albies’ comments would normally add fuel to what has been, at times, one of baseball’s hottest rivalries, but the stripped-down Mets are barely fielding a competitive team at this point.
The Braves also can talk the talk since they’ve been walking the walk against the Mets for quite some time, having won the season series for the last six years.
Atlanta famously rallied from a 10.5-game deficit last season to win the division, sweeping the Mets in a pivotal series in Atlanta when the Mets needed just one win.
Albies and the Braves project to be thorns in the Mets’ side for years to come since most of the team’s key players are signed for the foreseeable future.