Braves Briefing: Marcell Ozuna named "best designated hitter without any awards" by MLB.com
Sometimes, luck just isn't on your side.
That's the situation that faced Atlanta Braves designated hitter Marcell Ozuna in 2023. A combination of a slow start, historic seasons by his teammates, and Shohei Ohtani's dominance as a DH (and starting pitcher) means he ended up left out of many end-of-season awards.
Ozuna, who finished the season batting .274/.346/.558 with 40 homers and 100 RBIs, saw all of those factors conspire to leave him in the cold during award season.
"The Big Bear" started more like a polar bear in the first month of the season, batting only .085 through April, with two homers and only five total hits in his first 18 games.
And Ozuna's rebound to his more than adequate stats was overshadowed by both Ronald Acuña Jr's historic 40/70 season and Matt Olson's league-leading 54 homers.
And of course, Shohei Ohtani did Shohei Ohtani things, winning his 2nd MVP award in three seasons and taking the first team DH spot in the All-MVP team.
Here's what MLB.com said about Ozuna's 2023:
It’s kind of wild that Ozuna slashed .274/.346/.558 with 40 homers, 29 doubles and 100 RBIs and was nowhere near the best -- or even the second-best -- hitter on his team. But such was life for the 1927 Yankees ... err, 2023 Braves. Ozuna struggled mightily in the opening month (.397 OPS through the end of April) but crushed the ball the rest of the way (.969) to re-establish himself as a major power threat.
How long until pitchers and catchers report?
54 days. Atlanta's expected to ask pitchers and catchers to report on Monday, February 12th, in advance of their first spring training game on February 24th against the Tampa Bay Rays. An official announcement of the reporting date will come in January.
Here's the odds for the top 10 teams to win the 2024 World Series according to FanDuel
With their recent additions of Shohei Ohtani and Tyler Glasnow, the Los Angeles Dodgers continue to improve their betting odds of winning the World Series.
Los Angeles Dodgers - +460
Atlanta Braves - +650
New York Yankees - +850
Houston Astros - +900
Texas Rangers - +1000
Philadelphia Phillies - +1000
Baltimore Orioles - +1500
Toronto Blue Jays - +1600
Seattle Mariners - +1800
Minnesota Twins - +2200
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