3 Players the Atlanta Braves Need to Stay Hot to Win World Series
Here are three vital Atlanta Braves players who NEED to stay hot for the Braves to win the World Series in 2023.
By Seth Carter
3. Atlanta Braves Player Who Needs to Stay Hot: Marcell Ozuna
Marcell Ozuna is second in all of baseball in fWAR over the past 14 days. He has five homers and 16 RBI over that time to go with a slash of .442/.500/.885. During that time, Ronald Acuna Jr., Matt Olson, and Austin Riley make up the other top offensive fWAR leaders on the Braves behind Ozuna. Here's a look at how his production has dwarfed their performances.
Ozuna fWAR (past 14 days): 1.2
Riley, Acuna, & Olson Combined fWAR (past 14 days): 1.3
Starting on August 4th, Ozuna began an impressive 16-game hit streak. Since August 4th, he's only gone hitless in one game. He has homered in three straight games. This is already the third-most homers Ozuna has ever hit in a season with 28. He's one away from tying his second-best of 29, set in 2019 with the Cardinals. His best homerun season came in 2017 when he blasted 37 round-trippers with Miami. If he stays hot, he could challenge that.
Ozuna has been a notably streaky player over his 11 major league seasons. We have covered Ozuna as both a key to winning the World Series and as one of the players the Braves need to worry about as we head toward the postseason. As good as we think Ozuna's been SINCE April, he was conspicuously absent from our Top 10 Atlanta Braves Players in July list.
Ozuna is being depended upon as a middle-of-the-order bat right now for the juggernaut of an offense. He has been routinely plugged into the fifth spot behind Matt Olson. As the Braves hit the postseason, it will be extremely important that Ozuna keeps swinging a hot bat.