Marcell Ozuna Hoping for Redemption with Atlanta Braves
It's been a rough couple of years for Marcell Ozuna both on and off the field, but he has one last shot at redemption with the Atlanta Braves in 2023.
After signing a 4-year, $65 million contract with the Braves following an MVP-type season in 2020, things have gone downhill rapidly for Marcell Ozuna.
He got off to a slow start in 2021 and then broke two fingers.
While recovering, he got arrested for domestic violence and body cam footage shows him with his hand around his estranged wife's neck.
He was put on administrative leave, but ultimately got a retroactive 20-game suspension from MLB.
This past season, he hit 23 home runs but hit just .226 with a 24.1% strikeout rate. He lost a lot of his playing time at DH with the emergence of William Contreras.
But with Eddie Rosario on the injured list, he was forced to play left field in 52 games where he was far below average.
And then in August, he was arrested again -- this time for a DUI.
There have been plenty of rumors that the Braves have tried to trade Ozuna -- even doing a bad contract swap for the likes of Patrick Corbin and Madison Bumgarner.
But the Braves have yet to find a willing taker and thus he is still in Atlanta.
One more shot for Ozuna
There are some Braves fans who are still shocked that Ozuna is even on this team -- and I can give you 36 million reasons why that's still the case. If he has another season similar to what we've seen the last two years, it's hard to see him surviving another year on the roster.
However, there is some optimism coming out of Spring Training, where he hit .315 in 54 at-bats with a home run and a .373 OBP. And after striking out 7 times in his first 22 at-bats, he only struck out 4 times in his last 32 at-bats.
The Braves gave him the most at-bats of anyone in camp -- clearly trying to give him a chance to show some improvement, which he did.
So much so, that Brian Snitker was batting him clean-up with all the regulars over the final week of Spring.
Even the biggest optimist can't expect Ozuna to get back to where he was in 2020, but he has the power to hit 30 home runs in 130 games. If he provides that power and gives you a little more in between those home runs in terms of getting on base -- his BB% has gone from 14.2% in 2022 to 6.1% in 2022 -- then he can be a big boost to an already deadly offensive lineup.
Ozuna is going to get the bulk of the starts at DH early on -- and might even see some time in left field as the Braves have talked about his arm strength returning.
The leash has to be somewhat short for Ozuna in 2023 after what we've witnessed the past two seasons, and with the other players who performed well in Spring Training looking for an opportunity if he slips up.
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