Marcell Ozuna uses Braves fans’ boos as motivation to strike out even more

Marcell Ozuna uses Atlanta Braves fans booing him relentlessly as motivation to strike out even more.

After getting his first start in the Atlanta Braves‘ lineup in a week, Marcell Ozuna seized the day by striking out two more times before manager Brian Snitker pulled him in favor of Eddie Rosario.

It has been a week from hell for Ozuna, almost entirely of his own doing. Snitker did not pencil him into the lineup during the entire four-game series vs. the New York Mets earlier in the week. It was not until the series finale at home vs. the Houston Astros did Ozuna get any action. Not only was he benched by the Atlanta skipper, he was arrested for a DUI on early Friday morning in Norcross.

After Sunday’s 5-4 loss to Houston on getaway day, Ozuna told Alison Mastrangelo of WSB that he is using the home crowd’s constant booing of him as motivation to keep on playing his best brand of baseball. Of course, that means striking out ad nauseam, as well as playing questionable defense in left field whenever Snitker decides to wake up and choose violence on any given day.

Here is the clip of Ozuna speaking with WSB after Atlanta’s loss to Houston on Sunday afternoon.

https://twitter.com/ZachKleinWSB/status/1561464835614953473

Boo-fueled Marcell Ozuna plans to strike out even more for the Atlanta Braves

It will be a little over a week before Braves fans can think about booing Ozuna at Truist Park again. Atlanta just commenced a six-game road trip with three up in Pittsburgh beginning on Monday and three over in St. Louis starting on Friday. Although the Braves lost on Sunday, they have gone 11-2 in their last 13 games. After a slow start, Atlanta has emerged as one baseball’s best teams.

While the Braves have been a wagon throughout most of the last calendar year, Ozuna has not lived up to his four-year contract he inked with the franchise in February 2021. Not only has he failed to have any discipline at the plate, he has been arrested twice in 15 months in two Atlanta suburbs. Although the Braves will let the legal situation play out, his days in Atlanta are numbered.

If not for the albatross of a contract he is carrying, Atlanta would have released him already. Odds are, he will be suspended by MLB. Atlanta should cut bait once it gathers enough information on the matter. He may have good baseball left in the tank, but Ozuna is a sunk cost for Atlanta. It will be shocking if Snitker pencils him into the lineup on Tuesday vs. the Colorado Rockies at home.

For a team with so many positive things going for it, Ozuna has been nothing short of a nuisance.