There are often times when fans struggle to be pleased with certain parts of their team. Players that we expect a lot of things from, underperform at times and it can be easy to lose patience with them. Atlanta Braves fans definitely know a lot about that, unfortunately.
2023 has been no different as there are a few players that Braves fans may be struggling to keep patience with. This is not to say these players are "bad" but instead giving fans a lot of frustration with their performances. Any knowledgeable baseball fan realizes how quickly things can change for a professional ball player.
Marcell Ozuna
It feels pretty obvious who was going to be at the top of this list for the Atlanta Braves in 2023, so far. Ozuna hasn't made himself Mr. Popular amongst Braves fans in the last couple of seasons. Subpar play and multiple issues off the field have turned things sour between the two sides.
Since his monstrous performance in the 2020 season, which saw him bat .338 with a 1.067 OPS, things have gone downhill in almost every way for the 32-year-old. An injury in Boston ended his 2021 season, he finished the year batting .213 with a .288 on-base percentage.
Ozuna also was arrested soon after that injury on charges of aggravated assault and battery as police witnessed him attacking his wife. He apologized to the fans, the organization, and his teammates stating he had learned some things and was working to improve. He was suspended for 20 games that season.
2022 rolled around and Ozuna's performance hadn't improved as he hit .226/.274/.413 in 124 games for the Braves that season. The off-field issues didn't end that season either as he was arrested on DUI charges in August of 2022. I feel it's safe to say it's easy to see why fans had begun to lose patience with Ozuna after signing him to a four-year deal worth $65 million.
With 2023 rolling around, I think many fans were just hoping the team would cut ties with Ozuna but they decided to stick with him. However, it was more of the same as through the first sixteen games of the year, Ozuna had just four hits over 58 plate appearances. His average was sitting at a measly .078 and struck out fifteen times. This garnered lots and lots of boos for him at home games from Braves fans.
It's warranted as well. You expect someone that's being paid that much to perform up to the expectations of what got them that contract in the first place. That hasn't been the case and this is the result that often comes from that.
Now, I would be wrong to not mention that over his last 11 games, Ozuna is playing more like his former self. Something unlocked in him while the Braves were playing in Miami and he hit three homers in that series. He's continued to play well with twelve hits over this 11 game stretch including 5 homers and 10 RBI. He's struck out eight times while walking seven times in that time frame as well with a .279/.380/.651 line and a 1.031 OPS.
Those are encouraging numbers to see but anything can happen and we could easily see Ozuna back to stinking it up on a nightly basis. We should want Ozuna to succeed and let's hope he's turned a corner and isn't going to revert back to his old ways.