Former Cardinals Slugger Off To Impressive Start With Braves

Marcell Ozuna was a solid member of the St. Louis Cardinals outfield in 2018 and 2019. During his two seasons in St. Louis, the slugger clubbed 52 home runs and 39 doubles in 278 games. He slashed .262/.327/.451 over that time period before he ended up with the Atlanta Braves.

Since joining the Braves, Ozuna has been one of the better sluggers in baseball.

This season, despite the Braves severely underperforming, Ozuna has been an incredibly bright spot on the roster.

Through 35 games, he's already walked 32 times compared to 33 strikeouts. The slugger is slashing .269/.425/.429 with five home runs and four doubles, while he hasn't even found his true power yet this season. Once he returns to slugging around .500, his OPS could jump to near 1.000 if he continues to walk at the rate he is.

Ozuna is hitting the ball hard, and he's hitting it often. And his production couldn't come at a better time. The slugger is in the final year of his contract before he heads to free agency.

As a designated hitter, he's already fighting an uphill battle in free agency. Historically, designated hitters are incredibly undervalued because they don't play the field. Ozuna, 34, is also on the older side, which hurts his value as a free agent, too.

But his production this year is going to elevate him to land the kind of contract he wants. If he can continue to get on base over 40 percent of the time, it's going to be hard to find a team that truly cares that he doesn't play defense.