Braves News: Marcell Ozuna benched for admiring a fly ball and everything was fine
By Eric Cole
Snitker had to bench Ozuna, but knew he didn't have to completely throw him under the bus
At the end of the day, though, the Braves are playing to win baseball games and have lofty aspirations for 2023 and beyond. Mistakes can be understandable, but correctable and manager Brian Snitker's job is to make sure that mistakes are corrected and players are held accountable. So, when it was Ozuna's turn to bat the next time, Snit benched him for Sean Murphy the rest of the game.
Keeping in mind that Ozuna has finally showed life at the plate the last month or so, benching him isn't an objectively easy decision, but the correct one. Having a guy like Sean Murphy available off the bench makes the choice easier, but players DO have to know that there are consequences for mistakes so that they won't make them in the future.
After the game, Snit's comments were telling.
Snitker said after game that he was sure Ozuna felt as bad (about not running on long fly ball) as Snitker felt about having to replace him for not running on what became 415-foot single. He watched it for a few seconds, thinking it was out (it would've been in most other parks).
— David O'Brien (@DOBrienATL) June 4, 2023
This is how adults and professionals should handle things. Player makes mistakes, managers have to correct those mistakes, and everyone moves forward. Everyone involved knows it was a mistake, but there is no need to make more of it than it was even for a guy whose decision-making in the past has been suspect at best.
We have seen Snit make this sort of decision with Ronald Acuna Jr. in the past and, to be honest, Snit hasn't always done the best with the "not running a guy over with the bus" part of this whole thing. However, we see Ronnie constantly running around like his hair is on fire taking extra bases and when he admires a homer, well...it is probably worth admiring.
There is a very reasonable argument for why the Braves should have parted ways with Marcell Ozuna already and frankly, this author has made that argument several times in the past. However, admiring a hard hit fly ball that goes out of the vast majority of parks and costing the team a base isn't something worth going overboard on. Ozuna seems to be trying and all parties involved treated this situation like adults and pros should.