Atlanta Braves: The Upward Trajectory of Marcell Ozuna
By Seth Carter
Career Numbers
Marcell Ozuna showed a glimpse of things to come in his first full season with the Marlins in 2014 when he blasted 23 homers and 85 RBI in 565 ABs. The next season his slugging percentage dropped from .455 in 2014 to a paltry .383 in 2015.
Ozuna really turned a corner for the Marlins at age-25 in 2016 when he made his first All-Star game and slashed .266/.321/.452 and blasted 23 2B, 23 HR, and 76 RBI.
The following year, things got even more spectacular as he was an All-Star, Top-15 in MVP voting, Gold Glover, and a Silver Slugger. That season, Ozuna slashed .312/.376/.548 with 37 HRs and 124 RBI.
Between 2016-2019 Ozuna has averaged 28 homers, 94 RBI, and slashed .277/.339/.478. His OPS+ during that time is 119. He’s a really good baseball player.
Cardinals Years
Ozuna has spent the past two seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals. His 2018 was not a terrible year but had to be a let down after the monstrous 2017 he posted with the Marlins.
In 2017 his OPS+ dropped from 149 to 106. His 37 homers turned back into 23 (the same number he hit in the year prior to his 37-homer breakout.)
His average was still solid at .280 but his OBP fell by 51 points.
Last year, his average dropped to a career-low .241 and his OPS+ remained at just 107.
So, who is he? Was 2017 real or a mirage? Since 2016 his HR totals look like this: 23, 37, 23, and 29.
It’s easy to understand why Ozuna perhaps had a different value of himself than the teams saw over the course of a long-term deal. He COULD be worth a lot more…now he gets to prove it with the Braves, just like Josh Donaldson did last year.