Marcell Ozuna may not have been able to take part in the Atlanta Braves World Series championship, but he got his hardware in the Dominican.
Whatever your feelings are on Marcell Ozuna’s future with the Atlanta Braves, the man can still hit and he put on quite the performance during the Dominican Winter League.
On Saturday night, Ozuna helped lead the Gigantes del Cibao to the Dominican Winter League Series Finale championship.
In the final game, he was 2-3 with a 3-run homer and a walk. Overall during the series he hit .333 with 3 home runs, 6 runs scored, and 8 RBI as part of his Series Finale MVP performance.
Marcell Ozuna.
— Gigantes del Cibao ® (@Gigantes_Cibao) January 23, 2022
🐻 MVP-CAMPEÓN. 🏆#GigantesDeVerdad #CampeonesDeVerdad pic.twitter.com/AqVyysJoVX
Here’s a look at his towering home run from Saturday night.
Que se sienta la furia del oso. 🐻#GiganteDeVerdad pic.twitter.com/AWonV5p8fx
— Gigantes del Cibao ® (@Gigantes_Cibao) January 23, 2022
After only playing in 48 regular season games during 2021 with the Atlanta Braves because of injury and off-the-field issues, Ozuna certainly needed the playing time.
He played in 21 games with the Gigantes and slashed .317/.389/.519 with 4 home runs, 10 walks, and 13 strikeouts during the regular season.
Great numbers to be sure, but keep in mind this is the Dominican Winter League where batters are typically facing players past their prime or minor leaguers.
Still, it is a very hard league to hit home runs in and Ozuna showed he still has a ton of pop in his bat.
I don’t think there is much of a question about whether or not Ozuna will be a solid contributor at the big league level in 2022.
When I posed this question on Twitter nearly 84 percent of you said you thought he’d be at least average or above average this season.
On Ozuna, if you can put aside the off the field stuff, do you actually think he’ll be a productive player in 2022 (assuming DH as well)?
— Jake Mastroianni (@ShortStopBall) January 22, 2022
The question is whether or not he’ll get another chance in a Braves uniform.
He’s already been handed his punishment from the league for his domestic violence case. And as long as he completes the program he’s in, which includes an anger management course, 200 hours of community service, and no contact with his wife, he’ll be cleared to play.
But then you also have this incident in the Dominican where he starts going after fans during a game that is just not a good look.
We’ll see how things play out with Ozuna, but for now, he’s certainly riding high with a championship of his own and an MVP trophy to boot.