Maybe Marcell Ozuna can stay with the Braves after all

Atlanta Braves designated hitter Marcell Ozuna, who had a bad start to the season, put up a strong performance on Wednesday against the Miami Marlins.

So far this season, the Atlanta Braves are one of the best teams in the National League, evident by their first place standing in the NL East division and 20-10 record on Wednesday. But there is one player who has been a weak point in their batting lineup, and that is designated hitter Marcell Ozuna. Braves fans have been imploring the team to move on from Ozuna, who had recorded a .111 batting average, a .222 on-base percentage and a .222 slugging percentage through 19 games this season.

He had a decent game against the Miami Marlins on Tuesday, where he went 2-for-4 at the plate, including two singles. But facing off against the Miami Marlins on Wednesday night, Ozuna had a ridiculously strong start to the game.

In the top of the second inning with Sean Murphy, Ozzie Albies and Vaughn Grissom on base, Ozuna needed just one pitch from Braxton Garrett to send his teammates home. An 81.2-mph slider down the middle of the plate was sent over the left field seats to give the Braves an early 4-0 lead.

Marcell Ozuna crushes multiple home runs vs. Marlins

Ozuna wasn’t done after that.

In the top of the third inning, Ozuna faced Garrett once again and hit another home run, this time a solo blast to left field to extend the team’s lead to 8-2. In this one game alone so far, he has already matched his home run total for the season.

Then in the top of the fifth inning, Ozuna recorded a single to record his third hit in his first three at-bats.

Ozuna is in the third year of his four-year, $65 million contract with Atlanta, which includes a club option for the 2025 season.

Braves fans are certainly hoping that this performance isn’t a one-game anomaly and that Ozuna can build off of this in future games.