{"id":15572,"date":"2024-12-06T06:27:55","date_gmt":"2024-12-06T06:27:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=15572"},"modified":"2024-12-06T06:27:55","modified_gmt":"2024-12-06T06:27:55","slug":"ozuna-in-the-outfield-the-braves-might-not-have-a-choice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=15572","title":{"rendered":"Ozuna In The Outfield: The Braves might not have a choice"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sportstalkatl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/dkb240520042-sd-vs-atl-game2.jpg?fit=1000%2C667&amp;quality=89&amp;ssl=1&amp;is-pending-load=1\" alt=\"Braves Marcell Ozuna\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Looking at the Braves\u2019 current roster construction, the entire outfield outside of\u00a0Michael Harris II\u00a0is a disaster.<\/p>\n<p>Ronald Acu\u00f1a Jr. is expected to miss at least six weeks to begin the season, and the reality is it could be much longer than that. The Braves aren\u2019t going to rush him back under any circumstances.\u00a0Jarred Kelenic\u00a0is the only other starting-caliber player on the roster, and that might be putting it generously, considering he was benched at the end of last season in favor of\u00a0Ramon Laureano. The Braves don\u2019t need to add just one outfielder; they need two with Acu\u00f1a\u2019s status up in the air. Unless\u2026 they get some production from an unexpected source.<\/p>\n<p>Marcell Ozuna\u00a0is fresh off the two best offensive seasons of his career as the Braves\u2019 designated hitter. He\u2019s played a grand total of two games in the outfield since the start of the 2023 season, but given the funds at Alex Anthopoulos\u2019 disposal, he\u2019s going to have to get creative. And based on the kind of shape Marcell Ozuna is in so early in the offseason, something tells me Anthopoulos might have shot him a call and said, \u201cBe ready.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I don&#39;t mean to cause any panic but Marcell Ozuna might be in the best shape of his life <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/MyLeftFielder?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#MyLeftFielder<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/yokgLZ8N1u\">pic.twitter.com\/yokgLZ8N1u<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; dren (@dren_braves) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/dren_braves\/status\/1864438708771922368?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 4, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s an entirely different human being from a couple of years ago!<\/p>\n<p>Once a Gold Glove outfielder for the Miami Marlins earlier in this career, Ozuna has been pretty much unplayable defensively ever since he joined the Braves back in 2020, in large part because he\u2019s never been in anywhere as good of shape as he was early on in his career.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, nobody should expect the Big Bear to be anything he once was in the outfield. There\u2019s almost no chance he\u2019ll ever be viewed as even an average defensive player again. However, given his offensive prowess, the Braves just need him to be somewhat serviceable with the glove. I still wouldn\u2019t bet on it, but Anthopoulos might not have many better options if the funds are limited.<\/p>\n<p>There are also a couple of other factors to keep in mind. There\u2019s no way to know when Ronald Acu\u00f1a Jr. will be cleared to play and what he\u2019ll be able to do when he returns. It\u2019s very possible he\u2019s best served as a designated hitter more often than not, which would leave Marcell Ozuna out of the lineup if he can\u2019t play defense.<\/p>\n<p>There are financial motivations for this to work for Ozuna as well. He\u2019s entering a contract year at 34-years-old. As long as he\u2019s mashing, he\u2019ll have a place in this league as a designated hitter. But if he can prove he can play the outfield, his next contract will be much more lucrative.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ll admit, I thought the days of seeing Ozuna in the outfield were long in the rearview. I\u2019m still not confident it would work, and the Braves certainly need a backup plan, but it has to at least be part of the plan due to the uncertainty surrounding Acu\u00f1a.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Please enable cookies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":15573,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15572","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Ozuna In The Outfield: The Braves might not have a choice - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=15572\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ozuna In The Outfield: The Braves might not have a choice - NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Please enable cookies.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=15572\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-12-06T06:27:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/PICTURE-1300-x-1500-px-21.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1300\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"MsNga\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"MsNga\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=15572\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=15572\",\"name\":\"Ozuna In The Outfield: The Braves might not have a choice - NEWS USA\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=15572#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=15572#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/PICTURE-1300-x-1500-px-21.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-12-06T06:27:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-12-06T06:27:55+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7d8919f80fe19b5d17fd5541862a7b37\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=15572#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=15572\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=15572#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/PICTURE-1300-x-1500-px-21.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/PICTURE-1300-x-1500-px-21.jpg\",\"width\":1300,\"height\":1500},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=15572#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Ozuna In The Outfield: The Braves might not have a choice\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/\",\"name\":\"NEWS USA\",\"description\":\"Your Daily Dose of Sports News and Updates\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7d8919f80fe19b5d17fd5541862a7b37\",\"name\":\"MsNga\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ddc5cc36b52e56e3c9aa09d60c7293d0b8a7d5eb4bfe93f637ffa8cb25ea8ac7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ddc5cc36b52e56e3c9aa09d60c7293d0b8a7d5eb4bfe93f637ffa8cb25ea8ac7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"MsNga\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?author=5\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Ozuna In The Outfield: The Braves might not have a choice - NEWS USA","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=15572","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Ozuna In The Outfield: The Braves might not have a choice - NEWS USA","og_description":"Please enable cookies.","og_url":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=15572","og_site_name":"NEWS USA","article_published_time":"2024-12-06T06:27:55+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1300,"height":1500,"url":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/PICTURE-1300-x-1500-px-21.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"MsNga","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"MsNga","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=15572","url":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=15572","name":"Ozuna In The Outfield: The Braves might not have a choice - NEWS USA","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=15572#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=15572#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/PICTURE-1300-x-1500-px-21.jpg","datePublished":"2024-12-06T06:27:55+00:00","dateModified":"2024-12-06T06:27:55+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7d8919f80fe19b5d17fd5541862a7b37"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=15572#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=15572"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=15572#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/PICTURE-1300-x-1500-px-21.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/PICTURE-1300-x-1500-px-21.jpg","width":1300,"height":1500},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=15572#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Ozuna In The Outfield: The Braves might not have a choice"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/","name":"NEWS USA","description":"Your Daily Dose of Sports News and Updates","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7d8919f80fe19b5d17fd5541862a7b37","name":"MsNga","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ddc5cc36b52e56e3c9aa09d60c7293d0b8a7d5eb4bfe93f637ffa8cb25ea8ac7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ddc5cc36b52e56e3c9aa09d60c7293d0b8a7d5eb4bfe93f637ffa8cb25ea8ac7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"MsNga"},"url":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?author=5"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15572","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15572"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15572\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15574,"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15572\/revisions\/15574"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/15573"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15572"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}