Atlanta Braves fans incensed to see weak-hitting Marcell Ozuna still in lineup for crucial rematch with San Diego Padres: "He sucks and we hate him"
Atlanta Braves fans are losing their minds that Marcell Ozuna is in the starting lineup for Monday's series opener at the San Diego Padres.
Ozuna, a designated hitter in name only these days, enters the rematch series between the Braves and Padres with a miniscule .075 batting average after logging hits in just three of his first 46 at-bats of the season.
The 11-year MLB veteran, in the third season of a four-year $65 million contract, is the least favorite player in recent Braves history. He is roundly booed at Truist Park and mocked online daily. It doesn't help his image that he's just a year removed from a 2022 DUI and domestic violence arrest.
Starting the week in San Diego!
#ForTheA https://t.co/vGfhQNw7ZP
Marcell Ozuna hit .315 with an .854 OPS and seven extra-base hits in spring training, but has been an anchor in the lineup of the Atlanta Braves lineup since the games started counting. He has two home runs to pair with 13 strikeouts through 12 games.
Braves manager Brian Snitker baffled Atlantans last week by defending Ozuna and saying that the team will stick with him through what was termed a "slump."
@Braves I really do not understand what else the Braves have to see in order not to play this guy, just sit him. It’s over. He’s a lost cause. Just take the L. His spring training didn’t mean a thing and it never should have.
@Braves https://t.co/DMyAiR5jrm
@dj_mcquaig7 @Braves Because he sucks and we hate him and he’s a bad person
Snitker told reporters last week as Ozuna's average sank to .083:
"He's just going to have to keep fighting through it. He's going to get some opportunities, because it's there right now, especially with Travis (d'Arnaud) being down. So, we'll see. ... I just hope he's going to get it going. I saw it this spring in glimpses."
D'Arnaud, the Braves catcher/DH was hitting .333 with five RBIs when he went on MLB's 7-day concussion list April 9 after being injured on a collision at the plate in a game against the Padres. There is no word yet as to when the 34-year-old slugger will return.
@dj_mcquaig7 @Braves We’ve waited 2-1/2 years to find his form?
At what point do you just accept that he’s an anthropomorphic strikeout?
@Braves Not Ozuna https://t.co/YavpMbTCkq
@dj_mcquaig7 @Braves "He's in a slump"
He's been a below average hitter every single year of his current contract, it's not a slump he just sucks
However, Marcell Ozuna, a .267 career hitter, has not topped .226 in a season since signing what has become an onerous deal with the Atlanta Braves following the 2020 season. Despite what's now going on three years of scant production, Snitker has apparently not lost faith in the hulking 32-year-old Dominican, telling reporters:
"If he gets it going, he can be a force, so we’ll try and keep working him in there and hopefully he does."
🏻
@Braves Other teams have a designated hitter who can hit. Braves built different 💪🏻😤
@Braves https://t.co/YfnDHtZHiw
@Braves Get the bad man off the team please
As bad as Ozuna has been, we do have to check the legitimacy of this poll. It's not certain if his lack of production and overall character issues qualify as the greatest threat to world peace.
@Braves https://t.co/nompvVP3Ak
It all started off so well for the Atlanta Braves and Marcell Ozuna – but that was long ago
Marcell Ozuna initially came to the Atlanta Braves as a free agent, signing a one-year, $18 million contract with the team in 2020 after two seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals. He logged a National League-leading 18 home runs and 56 RBIs in that pandemic-shortened season that saw Atlanta win the World Series, leading the Braves to sign him long term.
Ozuna has not approached his 2020 level of production since that 60-game stretch.