Early in the 2023 season, most Atlanta Braves fans were ready for the team to move on from Marcell Ozuna. He missed the bulk of the 2021 season due to a severe finger injury that kept him out for a couple months in addition to a 20 game suspension under MLB's domestic violence policy and posted just a .645 OPS before his lengthy absence.
During the 2021 season, Ozuna struggled again at the plate with a .226/.274/.413 line before being arrested for a DUI that August. As his struggles continued to bleed into the early portions of the 2023 season, the idea of moving on from Ozuna altogether gained significant momentum with fans and experts alike.
However, a funny thing happened: Ozuna's bat woke up in a big way. He finished the the 2023 season with a .905 OPS and 40 homers before hitting even better this past season where Ozuna slashed .302/.378/.546 with 39 homers and 104 RBI. What changed? Well, like most things with Ozuna, the answer is a bit complicated.
Marcell Ozuna goes 442 feet for his 18th home run of the season! pic.twitter.com/2Q5W2NjYgT
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) June 7, 2024
Marcell Ozuna's turnaround is the product of the Braves' patience and a couple of key improvements
Ozuna himself has credited his resurgence to some changes both to his lifestyle and his swing mechanics. Both of these developments are admirable and welcome, but they also only really help explain part the "why" and not necessarily the specific "what" in terms of the results at the plate.
For a long time, Ozuna has been vulnerable to breaking balls. Even during the 2020 season where he made a strong push for NL MVP and nearly got the Triple Crown, he only hit .203, slugged .391, and whiffed 48.7% of the time against breaking stuff. Where Ozuna traditionally made his living was his ability to punish fastballs which he did that season to the tune of a .394 batting average and .765 slugging percentage against opposing heaters.
2021 and 2022 was a drastically different tale. Ozuna was unplayably bad against breaking pitches in 2021 and better, but still bad, against the curvy stuff in 2022. However, instead of crushing fastballs, he struggled those two seasons against them with a .240 average in 2021 and .241 in 2022. As for the last two seasons where he has become a critical piece of the Braves lineup? Ozuna is back to mashing heaters in hitting .312 against them in 2023 and and .329 in 2024 while making some improvement against curveballs and sliders as well even if they remain a weakness.
The end result of these changes is that it certainly appears as though Ozuna is going to be a Brave for the foreseeable future and an important part of their roster at that. The Braves didn't make the choice to exercise Ozuna's option for 2025 out of blind loyalty, but instead because he basically gave them no other choice with his performance. It is up to him to keep it that way.