Marcell Ozuna in exclusive company with Chipper Jones after hot start to season

When the Atlanta Braves are discussed, often the names that come up are guys like Ronald Acuña Jr., Spencer Strider, Matt Olson, and Austin Riley. There are plenty of reasons for this. These guys aren't only among the best players in the sport, but they're also just so fun to watch.

Because of how loaded the Braves are, especially on the offensive side of the ball, players who'd be generating more buzz elsewhere, get overlooked. Marcell Ozuna is a prime example of that. Did you know that Ozuna ranked in the top 10 in the majors in home runs (2nd), RBI (3rd), and WRC+ (9th) after his rough April? That kind of production gets overshadowed when Acuña has the season he had and Olson leads the majors in home runs.

All Ozuna has done this season is elevate his game to yet another level. This time, he's getting the spotlight he deserves while Acuña has struggled and Strider is hurt. In fact, he's been so good to the point that only Chipper Jones and Dale Murphy can relate.

Marcell Ozuna's start to the season can only be rivaled by pair of Braves legends

The Braves enter play on Monday with a 14-6 record, tied for the best in the National League, thanks in large part to Ozuna's absurd offensive performance. So far, in the 20 games he has appeared in, Ozuna has slashed .338/.404/.713 with nine home runs and 27 RBI. He leads the league home runs, RBI, and OPS. He's doing this while batting fifth, by the way.

"Ozuna leads MLB with nine home runs and 27 RBIs. He joins Christian Yelich (2019) as the only MLB players with nine-plus homers and 25-plus RBIs in their team's first 20 games in the past 15 seasons. More impressively, Ozuna joins Chipper Jones (1998) and Dale Murphy (1985) as the only Braves players to produce these numbers within this span since RBIs became an official stat in 1920."

Braves fans were clamoring for Ozuna's release at this time last season, and now he's doing things that only some of the best players in franchise history have done. It's simply absurd.

Baseball fans keep waiting for the inevitable cold streak to come, but it has been almost a year and it hasn't happened. With the 33-year-old performing like this, Atlanta's offense is really unstoppable. They lead the league in runs per game and that's with the trio of Acuña, Riley, and Olson underperforming. Ozzie Albies and Sean Murphy have been hurt, too. Just wait until they actually click.