The Big Bear continues to rake
Going into the season finale on Wednesday, it seemed as if Marcell Ozuna had cooled off a bit.
He was 1-for-6 in the first two games of the series, but in the final game, he showed us why he's a legitimate early MVP candidate, going 3-for-4 from the plate and driving in two of the four runs the Braves needed to win the game.
In the end, heading into the series with Cleveland on Friday, Ozuna is still hitting .344 with 18 runs scored, nine home runs, 29 RBI, and a 1.094 OPS. It's now been nearly a month straight of MVP-level hitting and to be honest, probably longer than that. He fended off Braves fans who wanted him DFA'd early last year before he figured things out and became one of the most dependable bats on the team at season's end.
We *really* take those!#BravesCountry pic.twitter.com/VpoQCKnhGS
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) April 24, 2024
Marcell currently has the second-most home runs behind Mike Trout who has 10 of them. He only trails Mookie Betts for the best OPS in the league but the Braves slugger does lead Major League Baseball in slugging percentage (.678) and RBI (29).
The 30-year-old is currently on pace for 63 home runs and 204 RBI. That likely will not happen but it's a great indicator for just how well he's performing right now.
He's locked in at the plate and there is no reason to believe he won't continue to be as the 2024 season marches on. Atlanta will likely pick up his club option for 2025 if he can maintain this level of production.