Should Braves be concerned with Marcell Ozuna?
At the beginning of the month, Marcell Ozuna let it be known that he’s playing with a tear in his hip, which Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos confirmed a day later. “I’ve been kind of slow because I don’t want to rotate, because my hip is kind of shut down a little bit,” Ozuna said via […] The post Should Braves be concerned with Marcell Ozuna? appeared first on SportsTalkATL.com.
At the beginning of the month, Marcell Ozuna let it be known that he’s playing with a tear in his hip, which Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos confirmed a day later.
“I’ve been kind of slow because I don’t want to rotate, because my hip is kind of shut down a little bit,” Ozuna said via David O’Brien of The Athletic “I had a tear (in the) right hip, so I just … keep battling. I’m trying to help my team. That’s the most important thing. I want to be in the lineup every single day, and do everything for my team.”
It’s evident that it is something that The Big Bear is just going to have to play through. If rest and recovery were the answer, the Braves would have certainly shut him down by now. But at the time of those statements, Ozuna had been far and away the best offensive player on the team through two months. He’d just recorded two hits, including a home run, and carried a .901 OPS into a June 3rd matchup with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Since then, however, Ozuna has just three hits, coming out to a .111 batting average without a single home run. He only has two home runs since May 22nd, and it’s fair to wonder just how much this injury is affecting him in the box.
For now, the Braves will probably just chalk it up to a slump, and Ozuna deserves the benefit of the doubt. Dating back to 2023, he’s been the Braves best offensive player not named Ronald Acuña Jr. However, if the struggles continue, there is another very clear option available.
Braves fans have been doing mental gymnastics in an attempt to find ways to get Drake Baldwin and Sean Murphy in the lineup every day. The easiest way for that to happen is if one of them serves as the team’s designated hitter. That could happen if Marcell Ozuna continues to struggle.
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Photo: Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire
The post Should Braves be concerned with Marcell Ozuna? appeared first on SportsTalkATL.com.
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