Marcell Ozuna looked like he was finally starting to turn things around at the end of last season, and this spring. However, once the regular season started the momentum did not carry over for. Ozuna is 3 for 36 this season, batting .083 with two home runs and two RBI, and has on OPS of .445.
Now the question is, how long will the Braves stick with Ozuna? Braves Insider and host of From The Diamond, Grant McAuley, joined The Morning Shift and he told Tiffany Blackmon, Mike Johnson, and Beau Morgan how long of a leash he thinks Ozuna has right now.
Grant believes Ozuna doesn’t have long left.
“I think he’s gonna kind of get the month of April to show that 'hey I had a good spring training, I finished last year on a bit of an upswing in September with a solid month,'” said McAuley.
The early-season injury to Travis d’Arnaud is the main reason Ozuna has until the end of the month, as Grant stated, to get his bat hot. After last night’s 5-4 win over the Cincinnati Reds, Braves manager Brian Snitker shared the same sentiment.
“He’s just gonna have to keep fighting through it all, and try and get where he was," said Snitker. "He had a really good spring, but that doesn’t count. This is what counts, and you know like I said I was really encouraged last night by the way the ball is coming off his bat in his at-bats but, he’s just gonna have to keep fighting through it. He’s gonna get some opportunities because I mean it’s there right now, especially with Travis [d’Arnaud] being down. So you know we’ll see.”
Ozuna just simply can’t and won’t stay in the lineup if this severe lack of production continues. It does seem like it is truly now or never in the month of April.