I feel like we’ve all wondered this every time Marcell Ozuna gets an extra-base hit, but it looks like he’s finally back on track, and the timing could not be better for a struggling Braves offense. He’s had several clutch hits over the last week, homering in three straight games.
The Big Bear has broken out of his slump with style and is currently sporting a seven-game hit steak.
https://twitter.com/BravesOnBally/status/1527785481475432448
Will it last?
One or two homers could be considered a bit of a fluke, and I remained skeptical after the first one. But four homers over the course of a week is a sign things are turning around. Ozuna also has five hits over his last three games.
The peripherals provided by Baseball Savant serve as evidence to back up his resurgence as well. Ozuna has a barrel percentage in the top 15% of the league on the season. Additionally, his expected slugging of .551 far exceeds his actual .414 number, and a BABIP of .232 shows just how poor his luck has been. While his walk rate is lower than it has been in the past, most advanced statistics reveal that Ozuna has just been extremely unfortunate, and I also wouldn’t be shocked if that walk rate begins to increase significantly as he starts to find his rhythm more consistently.
Ozuna’s resurgence should help kickstart a dormant offense. Regression to the mean was due to happen at any time; hopefully, we start to see similar results from the rest of the Braves’ bats.
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Photo: Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire
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