Marcell Ozuna: Is He Worth Another Shot?
By Brad Kelly
We all have those certain players that we get enamored with heading into fantasy drafts, and too often than not, we make it a point to select them even if it means reaching for them. I like to affectionately call these certain players, “man-crushes”, and I must admit that I had one for Marcell Ozuna.
As you may have seen through some of previous pieces, heading into the 2015 season I was fully prepared to invest in the Miami Marlins lineup as I was certain that they were going to have a sneaky good lineup.
I envisioned him hitting in the middle of the order behind the likes of Dee Gordon, Christian Yelich, and Giancarlo Stanton, so I figured the RBI chances were going to be abundant, and that wasnt even taking into account the power potential he showed in 2014.
More from Fantasy Baseball
- 5 fantasy baseball waiver wire pivots to replace Triston McKenzie
- Fantasy baseball mock draft 2023, 12-team: Aaron Judge over Trea Turner?
- 3 fantasy baseball sleepers being drafted too late
- NBA DFS picks December 25: Merry Bucking Christmas
- Fantasy Baseball: Hot pitchers worthy of starting this weekend
All arrows seemed to be pointing up, and Marcell Ozuna was a guy that I was willing to draft aggressively as my OF3, and possibly even a low-end OF2. He just fit the bill as a breakout candidate and I know that there were other owners who were in the same boat.
Unfortunately, that hype and optimism boat sunk fast, as Ozuna’s 2015 has been nothing more than a complete and utter bust. He came out of the gates alright, as he had an average of .275 and .263 over the first months, with 3 homers and 15 RBI’s as well. The power was by no means what I expected, but I was holding out hope that he was going to heat up as the summer came.
Once again, I was wrong about that too, as Ozuna went on to bat a paltry .250 in June, with one homer and officially initiated the downfall of his season.
Marlins’ fans will tell you that Ozuna is undoubtedly a free swinger, but would do just enough to maintain to a respectable average in the .260’s. But, his K% this year has skyrocketed, and because of this he longer could maintain a respectable average nor make enough contact to even offer any power.
After the terrible June, the Marlins decided to send Ozuna down based on his “performance”. Ozuna struggled no doubt, but it should not be lost on anyone that the Marlins also delayed his arbitration clock in the process by sending him down.
Marcell Ozuna went down to AAA, and went on a homer binge, smashing three over the course of the very first week he was demoted. Clearly, if the Marlins were aiming to fix Ozuna and bring him back to immediately help, he would’ve been called right back up, but as we all know he wasn’t.
After his immediate success and lack of promotion, Ozuna went right back to struggling again and it was pretty clear that his heart really wasn’t in it as he compared the minors too being in jail. His “jail” term lasted for about a month as Ozuna finally resurfaced in August.
Even though he has burned me before, I am willing to give Ozuna another shot. Over the last 14 games, Ozuna’s line, .264/4 HR/7 RBI/1 SB, resembles what all owners expected from Ozuna entering 2015.
By no means is Ozuna completely back, his K rate is still a career high and he will continue to struggle to post decent averages, but the power seems to be back. With the fantasy playoffs basically here, Ozuna could be a potential wildcard for your team.
I think we would all say that Ozuna is talented, and still looks like a promising player in the future even after this year. He clearly wants to reestablish his value, so this intrinsic motivation seems to be driving Ozuna to finish the year with a bang.
At this point in the season, we are looking for different little pieces to add into our lineups, to hopefully put us over the top in the playoffs. Ozuna has the power to do just that and could be just the right infusion of production that you need.
Marcell Ozuna has had a rough season, and burned many fantasy owners. He was dropped by most, and is still available in a large percentage of leagues. This is the perfect chance for you to give him one more shot this season, and maybe you can get some return on the high value investment you made at the draft.