Marcell Ozuna Idelfonso, nicknamed “The Big Bear”, is a Dominican professional baseball outfielder for the Atlanta Braves of MLB.
Marcell Ozuna : Trade | Fangraphs | Return | Beast
Ozuna previously played in MLB for the Miami Marlins and St. Louis Cardinals. He made his MLB debut in 2013 with the Marlins.
Marcell Ozuna |
|
| Career highlights and awards | |
|---|---|
|
Ozuna began 2010 with the Greensboro Grasshoppers of the Class A South Atlantic League, but was sidelined after six appearances with an injured wrist.
He returned in June with Short Season Jamestown, where he finished the season. In 74 total games, he hit .258 with 22 home runs and 62 RBIs.
Ozuna spent 2011 with Greensboro, where he hit .266 with 23 home runs, 71 RBIs, and 17 stolen bases over 131 games.
Trade
Only days after trading NL MVP Giancarlo Stanton to the New York Yankees, the Miami Marlins would make yet another significant trade sending outfielder Marcell Ozuna to the St. Louis Cardinals.
Similar to Stanton, Ozuna was also coming off a career-year, as the-then 26-year-old posted multiple career-high’s during the 2017 season that included a few notable numbers such as 37 home runs, 124 RBI’s, and a .312/.376/.548 slash line across 159 games.
A two-time All-Star with Miami (2016-17), Ozuna also won a Gold Glove and Silver Slugger in 2017, and despite not playing for the organization since that season, still ranks among the Top 10 in Marlins history in categories such as Singles (447), Extra Base Hits (236), and WAR among Positional Players (13.8).
Having seen time with the Cardinals from 2018-19, Ozuna is currently with the Atlanta Braves.
Fangraphs
Ozuna was the starting left fielder, making his Braves debut on Opening Day. On September 1, he became the first National League player to hit three home runs in one game at Fenway Park, and also reached 1,000 MLB career hits.
| MLB statistics (through August 13, 2022) |
|
|---|---|
| Batting average | .268 |
| Home runs | 193 |
| Runs batted in | 666 |
| Teams | |
|
|
When Adam Duvall hit three home runs in the next game, also against the Boston Red Sox, Ozuna and Duvall became the first teammates in Major League Baseball history to have hit three home runs each in consecutive games.
In 2020 he batted .338/.431/.636 (each 3rd in the NL) with an NL-leading 18 home runs, 56 RBIs, and 145 total bases during the shortened 60-game season.
Ozuna won his second Silver Slugger Award after the 2020 season; it was the first-ever Silver Slugger for designated hitter in the National League as a result of the universal DH rule implemented league-wide during the COVID-19 pandemic-shortened 2020 season.
Return
MLB has announced that Braves outfielder Marcell Ozuna has received an unpaid, retroactive 20-game suspension for violating the league’s joint domestic violence policy.
Ozuna was placed on administrative leave between Sept. 10 and the end of the season, so he has already served the suspension. He is eligible to return at the start of the 2022 season.
“My office has completed its investigation into the allegations that Marcell Ozuna violated Major League Baseball’s Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Policy,” MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said in a release.
“Having reviewed the totality of the available evidence, I have concluded that Mr. Ozuna violated our policy and that discipline is appropriate.”
Marcell Ozuna Beast
Alas, Ozuna’s production fell through the floor in the first half of the year.
He had a modest .249/.301/.337 slash line through 79 games when the Marlins finally cut the cord, sending the slumping outfielder down to Triple-A.
Ozuna certainly isn’t the biggest reason why Miami flopped this year, but he belongs on the list of notable disappointments.
Iron Maiden will return to North America in 2022 to bring The Legacy Of The Beast World Tour to yet more cities, many of which the band has not performed in for many years.