2025 Fantasy Baseball: Marcell Ozuna Profile, Preview, Predictions
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Marcell Ozuna's bat has been power overdrive over the past two seasons while settling into the DH position for the Braves. A healthy top of the batting order will increae his RBIs chances, but will Ronald Acuna steals some of his at-bats at DH?
Marcell Ozuna goes 442 feet for his 18th home run of the season! pic.twitter.com/2Q5W2NjYgT
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) June 7, 2024
DH – Marcell Ozuna, ATL (ADP – 73.5)
Over the past two seasons, Ozuna has been a great value in fantasy drafts. He set career highs in plate appearances (688), runs (96), and games (162) in 2024 while driving in 100 runs for the second consecutive season. His highlight stat was his contact batting average (.420 – .366 in 2023 and .359 in his career).
Ozuna hit 34 of his 39 home runs off right-handed pitchers. He handled lefties well (.319/23/5/24 over 141 at-bats), but power was more frequent against them in 2023 (12 home runs). After 107 games last season, his bat was on record pace (.301/67/31/84 over 399 at-bats). Ozuna only had 29 runs, eight home runs, and 20 RBIs over his final 207 at-bats.
His exit velocity (92.2 mph – 20th) and hard-hit rate (53.5 – 11th) ranked well. He had 134 barrels over the past two seasons. Despite success in home runs, Ozuna posted a five-year low in his fly-ball rate (38.4). His strikeout rate (24.7) was his highest since 2014.
Fantasy Outlook: Ozuna’s success over the past two seasons has been impressive, helped by a better thought process and taking better care of himself off the field. He’s a fun bat to watch when in a groove. The downside to 2025 is that the Braves may use that DH position more for other players coming off injuries. Ozuna only played two games in the outfield over the past two years. I’ll view him as a .270/80/30/90 player in 2025 with no help in speed. Is he a Nelson Cruz-type player in his 30s?
RANKINGS
Top 5 Catchers | Catchers 6-10 | Catchers 11-15
Top 5 First Basemen | First Basemen 6-10 | First Basemen 11-15
Top 5 Second Basemen | Second Basemen 6-10 | Second Basemen 11-15
Top 5 Shortstops | Shortstops 6-10 | Shortstops 11-15
Top 5 Third Basemen | Third Basemen 6-10 | Third Basemen 11-15
With 20+ years of experience in the high-stakes fantasy market, I aim to research and compete at the highest level in baseball and football each season. I've contributed as a writer/analyst for Sports Draft Daily, ScoutPro, Scout Fantasy, Fulltime Fantasy, FFToolbox, and Sports Illustrated Fantasy. I'm honored to be in the National Fantasy Baseball Championship Hall of Fame. My drafting philosophy is risk-averse yet open to betting on potential game-changers. I approach player selection with a neutral perspective, acknowledging that fantasy sports are inherently unpredictable due to injuries, performance dips, and managerial decisions. My work focuses on these main areas: - Season-long fantasy baseball and football - BestBall Baseball and Football Events - Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS): DraftKings, FanDuel, and Underdog - Long Shot Player Prop Parlays for NFL I participate in various leagues and contests, including NFBC, NFFC, RTSports, FFPC, DraftKings, Underdog Fantasy, FanDuel, and FFWC, with the goal of leveraging my extensive experience and research for success in each game format. A fantasy follower can expect in-depth profiles of NFL and MLB players, along with season-long and weekly projections for each fantasy football season. In addition, I have many strategy articles to help develop fantasy players' learning curves.
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