One National League star who has stood out this season is the Atlanta Braves MVP candidate Marcell Ozuna, but he has struggled massively to keep up with his early numbers and has not hit a homer since August 20th. Unfortunately, Ozuna may be taking his team down with him.
Marcell Ozuna’s Struggles Costing Him Chance at the NL MVP and Batting Title
Marcell Ozuna, at one point this season, looked like the frontrunner for NL MVP. However, his severe power drought, along with the fact that he is a designated hitter, gives him almost no chance of beating out either Francisco Lindor or Shohei Ohtani, who both have excelled this season. Ozuna was only an MVP candidate for his power and average, both owed to his terrific swing.
However, despite being initially on pace for a 50-bomb season, Ozuna is on pace now for just 40 home runs, which won’t be enough to beat out Lindor or Ohtani, who both feature tons of speed and power. Add on the fact that Ozuna has a .302 average, which is well behind Luis Arráez’s .323 average, and he has also lost a chance at an NL batting title. This month has not seen too much of a slump for Ozuna average-wise, hitting a slightly underwhelming .250, but this severe power outage is hurting his award chances,
There’s plenty of blame to go around for the Braves offense but Marcell Ozuna’s slump could not have come at a worse time…