Marcell Ozuna chooses to play through hip injury, and Braves need him badly

New York Times

a day ago

ATLANTA — Marcell Ozuna was the Atlanta Braves' best and most consistent hitter for most of two calendar years beginning in early May 2023. He was the second-best designated hitter in baseball during that period, surpassing all except Shohei Ohtani.
That's why it was so noticeable when Ozuna suddenly became as streaky as most of the Braves' other key hitters, after injuring his right hip in mid-April.
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The Braves had him skip a three-game series at Toronto in mid-April when they sent him for an MRI following their previous series at Tampa. But otherwise, Ozuna, the NL walks leader with 48 before Wednesday, has stayed in the lineup and remained productive while playing through varying degrees of pain.
'I'm trying to help my team,' he said. 'That's the most important thing, so I want to be in the lineup every day.'
Ozuna had 10 hits, a .278 average and .395 OBP in his past 10 games before Wednesday night's rain-delayed game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, but Ozuna had only one extra-base hit — a homer — and one RBI in that span, along with 12 strikeouts in 36 at-bats.
That followed a nine-game span in which he hit .344 with four homers, 11 RBIs and a 1.200 OPS. Before that torrid stretch, Ozuna slumped for 12 games from April 29 to May 11, hitting .163 with one RBI and a .517 OPS. And before that, he hit .324 with two homers and a .996 OPS in a 10-game span, including eight wins from April 18-28.
In other words, it's been a roller coaster lately for Ozuna while he's played with the hip aching at times, causing him to limp. It contrasts entirely with the previous two years, when he rarely slumped for more than a few games.
Still, Ozuna had a .420 on-base percentage before Wednesday, and the burly slugger continued to be a presence in a lineup that hasn't exactly struck fear in opposing pitchers this season. The Braves lost nine of 12 games before Wednesday and were 16th in the majors in OPS (.704) and tied with the Baltimore Orioles for 19th in slugging percentage (.387).
Ozuna, 34, said he wants to continue playing every day, and the Braves think, or at least hope, that he can manage the injury as a DH. He's in the option year of his contract and is eligible for free agency after the season.
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'I've talked to him,' Braves manager Brian Snitker said. 'And he seems to be running a lot better than he was (a couple of weeks ago). You get in those situations sometimes where he wants to be out there, he wants to be a part of this. Hopefully, he can manage it. Is it affecting him? Probably. He's a big, strong man that rotates and fires (in his swing).'
Snitker said he was worried that the MRI would reveal an injury that required season-ending surgery. It showed inflammation and what Ozuna said was a tear, but nothing to stop him from playing, as long as he could handle any discomfort triggered by some movements in the batter's box or by sprinting and lunging.
'Something like that, I think if you fix it (surgically), you're going to miss a significant amount of time,' Snitker said. 'But as long as he can manage it and learn to deal with it, we'll go with him.'
Although his production has slipped by his recent lofty standards, Ozuna is still contributing plenty. He entered Wednesday batting .278 with an .884 OPS, even if he was not swinging the bat as frequently or with as much force.
Ozuna ranked third in the league in OBP (behind the Dodgers' duo of Freddie Freeman and Will Smith). He was tied with Austin Riley for second among Braves with 10 homers and fourth on the team with 25 RBIs in 56 games.
Despite his decreased power numbers this season, Ozuna entered Wednesday with a 149 OPS+ that would tie for the second-best of his career in a full season. A year ago, Ozuna finished with a .302 average, 39 homers and 104 RBIs and a career-best 154 OPS+.
'Yeah, (the hip) is going to be a factor the entire year, but Marcell's tough,' Braves general manager and president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos said. 'He's playing through it. He's still performing. He wants to stay in there. He is a very durable player. He's still a productive player.
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'But you know, it's one of those things that he's going to have to manage and get to the offseason (before it can heal).'
Anthopoulos said Ozuna was instructed to avoid aggravating it further by running hard on every grounder or fly ball that he hits, that kind of thing.
'We've told him, be judicious on the base paths and so on,' Anthopoulos said. 'So if you see him at some point, (not trying to beat out) a routine ground ball, he might be saving his bullets from that standpoint.'
Anthopoulos compared the situation to that of reliever Joe Jiménez, who continued to pitch through knee pain last season and was the Braves' top setup man, then had surgery after the postseason. That cartilage injury was worse than expected, and Jiménez could miss all or most of this season rehabbing.
'He pitched through a lot of stuff and he pitched at a high level, and he was great. We don't make the (2024) postseason without his contributions, there's no doubt about it,' Anthopoulos said. 'So I think you really respect and admire those guys. But it's something that (Ozuna) was adamant about and he wants to do. And his OPS is in the high to mid-.800s, his numbers are still phenomenal.'
Ozuna's .278 average before Wednesday was five points above his career average over 13 seasons, but Ozuna said the hip hasn't been the only thing keeping him from chasing a fourth season with a .300 average or higher.
'The umpiring is terrible this season,' he said. 'They've been calling so many balls strikes, how (can) you can hit .300 like that?'
Ozuna, aka 'Big Bear,' remains both indefatigable and outspoken, and his teammates admire him for it. And they hope he can keep playing through pain.
(Top photo of Marcell Ozuna: Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)