A little more than year ago, as Marcell Ozuna was drowning in a slump, many Braves fans were ready to run him out of town.
Wednesday night, in the midst of another overpowering performance, at least a few of them were chanting “M-V-P!”aA truly remarkable turnaround extended itself at Truist Park, as Ozuna hammered two home runs in the Braves’ 5-0 win over Boston and came within a few feet of launching a third. He launched the first in the bottom of the first inning to right field for a 3-0 lead, which was followed by a solo shot by Orlando Arcia for a 4-0 lead and the team’s first back-to-back home runs of the season. Ozuna hit the second home run in the bottom of the third. In the bottom of the eighth, a bid for a third came back to earth at the warning track in left field.
A truly remarkable turnaround extended itself at Truist Park, as Ozuna hammered two home runs in the Braves’ 5-0 win over Boston and came within a few feet of launching a third. He launched the first in the bottom of the first inning to right field for a 3-0 lead, which was followed by a solo shot by Orlando Arcia for a 4-0 lead and the team’s first back-to-back home runs of the season. Ozuna hit the second home run in the bottom of the third. In the bottom of the eighth, a bid for a third came back to earth at the warning track in left field.
A team that is trying to regain its footing after a lost week on the West Coast won its second consecutive game to lift its record to 22-12. The 33-year-old Ozuna weighed heavily in the two-game homestand.
“When you’re coming home, home is the best,” Ozuna said. “You feel good at home. That’s how you always have to protect home. When I come in here, I saw the crowd for us and you’ve got to do something for them.”
As Wednesday came to a close, Ozuna led the majors in home runs (12) and RBIs (38) and was second in slugging percentage (.646). He has been on a phenomenal tear since last May, which followed a historically dreadful March/April 2023 that prompted speculation that he could be let go.
No one is happier for Ozuna than his teammates, who know him as positive-minded, energetic, knowledgeable and supportive.
“Who he is as a teammate, he’s fun to be around,” said pitcher Chris Sale, the Braves’ other star Wednesday night. “He’s got, like, a magnetic field around him. You want to be around him. He’s a fun guy to play with. He keeps the energy up in the clubhouse and the dugout, on the bus and on the plane. It doesn’t matter where you’re at. You just want to be around that guy.”
Manager Brian Snitker saw him flounder through March/April 2023, when he was 5-for-59 (.085) with two home runs and was booed at Truist. It followed fairly ineffective 2021 and 2022 seasons after he had earned MVP consideration in the 2020 season. As many fans called for his release, Snitker saw Ozuna’s attitude as a factor to keep him on the roster.
Even when he was slumping, “we win a game, he was the first guy out of the dugout in the receiving line on the field,” Snitker said Wednesday after the game. “He was always about the team.”
It has proven to be a sound decision. From May 1 of 2023 going into Wednesday’s games – for Ozuna a stretch of 159 games – he had 48 home runs (tied for third in baseball), 132 RBIs (most) and a slugging percentage of .602 (second). From a power/production perspective, he is playing the game about as well as it can be played
When Chipper Jones won NL MVP in 1999, he had 45 home runs and 110 RBIs with a .633 slugging percentage.
Beyond that, Ozuna has been a team player standing out on a roster full of them. Beyond the energy and fun observed by Sale, Ozuna devotes himself to helping his teammates at the plate. He can often be seen in the clubhouse talking hitting with teammates and pantomiming swings.
“He’s always paying attention to every little thing,” catcher Travis d’Arnaud told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution after the game. “Even if it’s not him hitting, he watches everybody and tries to help everybody.”
As his blazing start extends, it’s easy to wonder where the Braves would be in the standings if not for Ozuna. With Ronald Acuña Jr., Matt Olson and Austin Riley still struggling to find the power that made the Braves so potent last season, Ozuna has been invaluable. In 18 of the team’s 22 wins thus far, Ozuna has scored or driven in a run or both.
Wednesday’s MVP chants were not without reason.
Asked where the Braves would be without him thus far, Snitker reasoned that someone else would have taken up the slack if Ozuna had not played to the heights he has reached. But it’s pretty reasonable to say that the Braves wouldn’t be 22-12 if Ozuna weren’t scoring, driving in runs and launching balls into the seats.
Perhaps knowing how humbling the game is, Ozuna has tried to handle the success with a level head. He spoke of lessons learned from a former teammate, Juan Pierre, to try to stay even-keeled.
“Because, baseball gods, when they take you, it’s bad,” Ozuna said, paraphrasing Pierre’s advice.
Ozuna said he heard the MVP chants but didn’t think much of it.
“It doesn’t make me feel anything because I had a chance to win a couple of times (previously) and I didn’t get it, so I just don’t worry about that,” he said.
For many fans, it may always be difficult to not view Ozuna through the lens of his legal issues, a 2022 arrest for DUI and a 2021 charge of felony aggravated assault against his wife. (The assault charge was reduced and Ozuna entered a pretrial diversion program. He pled no contest after the DUI charge.)
They’ll always be entitled to their perspective of him. But so will his teammates and coaches to theirs. Wednesday, it was quite clear how they felt about him.
“I’ve got so much respect for that man, I tell you, how he handled that situation (meaning the start to the 2023 season), and I’m so happy for him,” Snitker said. “The baseball gods have a way of rewarding people like that.”
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