Atlanta Braves fans didn't know what to expect from Marcell Ozuna in 2024 as his time with the team has been so up and down. However, he ended the 2023 season as one of the best hitters in baseball.
He carried over that impressive ending into the beginning of this season as he's currently one of Atlanta's best bats. Ozuna is on a torrent pace at the plate and carries a 16-game hitting streak into Friday's series opener with the Rangers.
Marcell Ozuna extends his hit streak to 16 games with a homer! pic.twitter.com/NbedI75RgL
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) April 17, 2024
Ozuna is tied with Mike Trout for the MLB lead in home runs. Both players have eight of them so far in 2024. However, Marcell is leading the league with 23 runs batted in. He is batting .352 which is the ninth-best average in baseball along with the third-best OPS which sits at 1.135 currently.
He will hope to continue that impressive hit streak as the Braves face a Rangers staff that is pretty good. His streak is also the longest among all active MLB players. This list includes Austin Riley who is at 11 games and former Braves catcher William Contreras who also has an 11-game streak.
Longest active hit streak:
— StatMuse MLB (@statmusemlb) April 19, 2024
16 — Marcell Ozuna (!)
11 — Willson Contreras
11 — Manny Machado
11 — Austin Riley
Ozuna went 0-5 on Opening Day and proceeded to get a hit in every game since. pic.twitter.com/wwIRlmwTHk
Riley is batting .333 with one homer and seven RBI during his streak while Ozuna carries a .379 average including eight home runs and 23 RBI. He has spent one day without a hit and that was in the season opener where he was 0-for-5 in Philly. It's been extremely impressive to watch how well he has been performing for Atlanta.
Let's check out a few of the longest hitting streaks in Braves history as Ozuna attempts to keep his streak active.
Notable Braves hitting streaks
Marquis Grissom - 28 games
Grissom had a great season in 1996 as he batted .308 on the season 23 home runs, 32 doubles, 10 triples, and 74 RBI. He recorded a hit in 28 consecutive games with a .386 average over that span. Grissom impressed with the bat but he also had a great season defensively. He ended the 1996 season with a Gold Glove award. Not a bad way to end what was his final season with the Atlanta Braves.
Dan Uggla - 33 games
The Braves surprised many in 2011 when they acquired Dan Uggla in a trade that included Omar Infante and Mike Dunn. Atlanta then extended the slugger to a five-year contract worth $62 million. Uggla had turned down a three-year, $24 million deal from the Marlins before the trade.
While most remember Dan's time with the Braves as extremely disappointing, he did have some exciting moments to remember. That includes him achieving the longest hit streak in Atlanta Braves history. He was four games shy of tying the franchise record of 37 games with a hit.
Uggla hit safely in 33 games from July 5th to August 13th. He batted .377 with 15 home runs, 32 RBI, and a 1.200 OPS during that span. He also was awarded NL Player of the Month after hitting .340 with 10 home runs and 21 RBI.
It was extremely impressive and brought some joy in what ended up being a lackluster season for the former Braves second baseman. He ended the year with a .233 average and 156 strikeouts. However, he did slug 36 homers and drive in 82 runs.
Tommy Holmes - 37 games
This is the man that holds the franchise record for longest hitting streak in Braves history. Tommy Holmes was an outfielder for the Boston Braves and was inducted into the Braves Hall of Fame in 2004.
He started the 1945 season with a 15-game hitting streak, which is impressive enough on its own. However, from June 6th to July 8th Holmes started his 37-game streak and batted an impressive .423 with nine home runs and 41 RBI.
The Brooklyn, New York native ended the season with a .352 average including 28 home runs and 116 RBI. Holmes only struck out nine times during the 1945 season and his ratio of home runs to strikeouts (28:9) is one of the best in baseball history.
He also won the Boston Most Valuable Player award in 1945 which was voted on by the Boston chapter of BBWAA. It was awarded to the best player that season who was a member of the Boston Braves/Bees or Red Sox. Holmes also won The Sporting News MVP and Player of the Year award for the National League.
He finished his Boston Braves career with a .303 average before ending his career with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1952. He was later employed by the Mets as director of amateur baseball relations.