With trade deadline looming, Ozuna smashes potential farewell home run
Credit: AP
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — If this was the end for Marcell Ozuna’s time with the Braves, it ended memorably.
In the throes of a two-month slump and reduced to playing sporadically, the designated hitter helped the Braves end their five-game losing streak with a go-ahead two-run homer in a 10-7 win over the Kansas City Royals on Monday night in Kauffman Stadium.
In the final year of his contract with the Braves, Ozuna has been the subject of trade-deadline speculation as a bat who could help a contender. With the deadline on Thursday and deals starting to pop, every day brings the possibility that it could be Ozuna’s last in a Braves uniform after joining the team for the 2020 season and becoming a linchpin in the lineup and a clubhouse leader.
“We know it’s a business,” star right fielder Ronald Acuña Jr. said via team interpreter Franco García. “We don’t know what’s going to happen, but I think we’re just going to enjoy every moment to its maximum while we can.”
Against that setting, Ozuna came to the plate in the top of the fourth with one out and the score tied at 2. With Ozzie Albies on first, Ozuna connected with a looping breaking ball from 45-year-old pitcher Rich Hill and swatted it 406 feet to left center, fully extending his swing with a one-handed finish. The towering blast landed in the front row of the outfield stands. Ozuna trotted leisurely around the bases, quite enjoying his 141st and potentially final home run as a Brave.
Ozuna said he has not given thought to the possibility that his Braves days are numbered.
“It’s business,” he said. “Whatever happens, happens. I don’t have that thing on my mind. I just come in every day, play, whatever. If they don’t put me in to play, I’m still the same energy. Keep my head up and give my energy to the guys playing.”
Starting pitcher Spencer Strider made the lead stand up, laboring into the sixth inning in the sultry Missouri heat before turning the game over to the bullpen. The Braves improved their record to 45-60. Tuesday night, they’ll attempt to win their first series since the All-Star break after losing their first three.
Ozuna entered the game hitting .232 with an OPS of .743, the latter 89th among qualified players in MLB. But, since the start of June, he was hitting .169 with a .548 OPS (171st out of 176 qualified hitters) with four home runs in 142 at-bats. His drop in play led manager Brian Snitker to drop him out of the lineup in favor of splitting DH duties between catchers Drake Baldwin and Sean Murphy. Monday was just the fourth time in the team’s past 13 games in which Ozuna was the starting DH.
“It’s hard when you’re not playing every day,” Snitker said. “But he’s very professional about everything, and he stays ready. He’s been through this before, and he’s always come out on top. He probably will again.”
The impact of Ozuna’s home run on potentially interested dealmakers is hard to say, but it certainly shouldn’t hurt. At the very least, Snitker said he might return Ozuna to the lineup.
These are unfamiliar days for the Braves, whose atrocious season has left them in the rare position of being willing to deal key pieces like Ozuna and closer Raisel Iglesias, whose contract is also expiring. It’s unlikely that either would bring back much in the way of prospects, but with the playoffs out of reach (FanGraphs gave the Braves a .3% chance — 3 in 1,000 — of making the playoffs before Monday’s games), there’s little reason not to do so.
Monday’s offensive output was likewise unfamiliar for the Braves this season. Aside from Ozuna, the Braves got home runs from Acuña and Austin Riley, the latter’s first hit since returning from his lower-abdominal muscle injury on Friday. In a four-run eighth, Matt Olson and Riley both doubled, the latter scoring three runs. It provided needed cushion when the bullpen had difficulty closing the game out, as Rafael Montero was responsible for allowing three runs before Iglesias came on to record the final three outs.
Monday’s game was the Braves’ fifth game this season with at least six extra-base hits. They had 21 last season and 28 in their record-setting 2023 season.
About the Author
Ken Sugiura is a sports columnist at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Formerly the Georgia Tech beat reporter, Sugiura started at the AJC in 1998 and has covered a variety of beats, mostly within sports.
