Marcell

Ozuna

Ozuna, who has been the subject of trade rumors recently, closes out a disappointing first half with two homers in his final three games. He finishes batting .239/.364/.396 with 13 homers and 42 RBI through 89 games. The 34-year-old veteran slugger deserves some credit for playing through a lingering hip issue, which appears to have adversely impacted his power production. It’ll be interesting to see if the impending free agent attracts any attention at the upcoming trade deadline. It’ll be Sean Murphy at DH on Sunday afternoon against St. Louis.

Ozuna, who didn’t play Friday, has two homers in three games after going 21 games without one. It doesn’t seem like his hip is going to allow him to be his usual self during the second half, but the four days off will probably do him some good.

It’s strange to see Ozuna on the pine against an opposing left-hander in Matthew Liberatore, but that’s where we are at right now with the slumping 34-year-old slugger. Sean Murphy will function as the team’s designated hitter on Friday night and will bat cleanup for the Braves.

Ozuna takes a seat after an 0-for-4 performance out of the sixth spot in Atlanta’s lineup on Saturday left him hitting .159 (18-for-113) with one homer and 32 strikeouts over his last 30 games. He’s just 3-for-24 over his last seven games. The 34-year-old veteran has been playing through a hip tear for most of this season, but has insisted that it isn’t impacting his performance. We’re not convinced. It’ll be rookie sensation Drake Baldwin taking over at DH and batting sixth on Sunday morning in his place.

Ozuna, who has been playing through a hip tear throughout most of this season, has been mired in an extended tailspin at the dish, hitting .177 (20-for-113) with only two homers in his last 30 games. He’s been dropped to the lower portion of Atlanta’s lineup for the second straight game with Jurickson Profar getting looks in the cleanup spot.

Ozuna, who hadn’t struck out more than twice in a game this season previously, fanned three times against Ranger Suárez and once versus Orion Kerkering. He’s hitting .175 with just one homer in his last 25 games, which makes it worth wondering if his hip injury is affecting him. He’s still doing fine from an exit velocity and xwOBA standpoint, though.

The Braves are currently 12 games back in the NL East and seven games out of a Wild Card spot, so they face a real uphill climb to get back into the postseason race. If they don’t make up enough ground by the deadline, Feinsand believes Ozuna will be the most attractive rental for Atlanta. However, we also know he’s playing through a tear in his hip, so it’s unclear what kind of return he would net. Feinsand lists the Guardians, Rangers and Tigers as potential trade destinations.

Austin Riley’s sac fly won it in the 10th after Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez panicked and threw to the wrong base while automatic runner Luke Williams was a sitting duck on a ball that got away from the catcher hit the umpire and stayed right there for Alvarez to pick up. The game went to extras because of some bad baserunning from the Mets’ stars and Ozuna’s bases-loaded double off Reed Garrett. Ozuna’s production has slowed as he deals with a hip injury, but he has eight RBI in his last four games.

This comes a day after the team admitted that Ozuna been playing with a tear in his hip. It’s certainly not performance related, as he’s hitting .362/.483/.617 in his last 13 games. Still, the Braves might be figuring getting a couple fewer at-bats each week will save a little wear.

Anthopoulos added that it’s going to be an ongoing factor for the remainder of the year and that he’ll need to continue managing the issue. Ozuna missed a couple games back in mid-April to undergo further testing after experiencing hip inflammation, but wasn’t believed to be dealing with anything significant. The fact that he hasn’t missed any additional time is pretty remarkable, but it’s a situation that fantasy managers will need to monitor closely. The ongoing issue hasn’t greatly impacted the 34-year-old slugger’s on-field performance of late since he’s hitting .321 (17-for-53) with four homers over his last 15 games.