{"id":85825,"date":"2024-09-17T18:57:49","date_gmt":"2024-09-17T22:57:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=85825"},"modified":"2024-09-17T18:57:49","modified_gmt":"2024-09-17T22:57:49","slug":"braves-struggles-marcell-ozuna-power-drought","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/09\/17\/braves-struggles-marcell-ozuna-power-drought\/","title":{"rendered":"Braves Struggles Can Be Traced to MVP Candidate\u2019s Power Drought"},"content":{"rendered":"

One National League star who has stood out this season is the Atlanta Braves MVP candidate Marcell Ozuna<\/a>, but he has struggled massively to keep up with his early numbers and has not hit a homer since August 20th<\/sup>.\u00a0 Unfortunately, Ozuna may be taking his team down with him.<\/p>\n

Marcell Ozuna’s Struggles Costing Him Chance at the NL MVP and Batting Title<\/h2>\n

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<\/a> or Shohei Ohtani<\/a>, who both have excelled this season. Ozuna was only an MVP candidate for his power and average, both owed to his terrific swing.<\/p>\n

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 Arr\u00e1ez<\/a>\u2019s .323 average, and he has also lost a chance at an NL batting title<\/a>. 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,<\/p>\n

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There\u2019s plenty of blame to go around for the Braves offense but Marcell Ozuna\u2019s slump could not have come at a worse time.<\/p>\n

His last 18 games since 8\/28:<\/p>\n

.250\/.351\/.281, 13.3% BB, 22.6% K
\n.031 ISO, 86 wRC+
\n0 HR, 0 RBI<\/p>\n

He\u2019s still getting on base but his power has vanished.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Matt Chrietzberg (@BravesMattC) September 17, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n