Alex Anthopoulos shares his thoughts on Marcell Ozuna

Marcell Ozuna has had a wild season so far. During the month of April, Ozuna had a .091 batting average and Braves fans everywhere were calling for him to be traded or released. Alex Anthopoulos chose to stick with Ozuna and to let him keep chopping at the plate. Since then, Ozuna has flipped the switch, and he has been a productive part of the Braves offense. He put together his best month as a Brave in August, finishing that month with a .358 batting average, nine doubles, nine homers, and 25 RBI.

Bill Ladson of MLB.com recently had a conversation with AA over the phone and asked him his thoughts on Ozuna turning it around. Here's what he had to say.

"He had a phenomenal Spring Training. So it was a continuation of what we saw last September. Then he had an awful month of April. Obviously, two people deserve a lot of credit. One is Marcell. He did the work and all of his teammates said, 'You know what? Even through the rough start in April and all the booing and all of those things, he was the same person in the clubhouse.' His teammates said he is a great teammate, cheering everybody on. His work ethic stayed at a high level. His attitude and his demeanor were at a high level. This guy is beloved in our clubhouse. He deserves credit for sticking with it. It’s easy to be a great teammate and have a great attitude when things are going well. It’s very telling when you can do it during the worst month of your career statistically.

"Brian Snitker, our manager, controls the lineup card and he kept playing him. He kept giving him an opportunity. There’s no way you can get out of a slump if you don’t play. Brian continued to give Marcell at-bats. He stuck with him because he believed in him. That was his call. Nobody would have criticized Brian if he sat him on the bench and took away playing time. To Brian’s credit and his credit alone, he made that call, and he was rewarded for sticking with him." - Alex Anthopoulos

Brian Snitker and AA both knew that it was only a matter of time before Ozuna turned it around and they were right. What do you know? Sometimes the owner and the manager of the team know more than the couch coaches. Going forward, Ozuna will be a pivotal part of this Braves lineup if they want to win the World Series.

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