There are certain home runs in baseball that are no doubters. They leave the bat, catch flight, and it's a nonstop flight to a fan's glove behind the wall. The baseball skips customs, doesn't check its bags, and vanishes into the night.
Marcell Ozuna hits a lot of no doubters. Absolutely crushed baseballs that spare the outfielder the sprint back to the wall and the pitcher more than a few seconds of reflection on pitch selection.
In 2019, Ozuna has already racked up eight home runs and a slugging percentage that tops 70%. When he connects, the baseball travels a long way. Farther than the feeble groundballs that Ozuna would send to third base or through a gaping hole in the infield a year ago. Three weeks into the season, Ozuna is cleaning up better than anyone in the lineup.
Normally, this would be a swimming proposition for fans and coaches. A power-hitting leftfielder showing power at the right time, winning games like Wednesday's 6-3 sweep-avoiding victory over Milwaukee. Then again, the Ozuna experience isn't always a pretty display of fly ball fever.
When he's not sending baseballs over the wall, Ozuna makes the greatest attempt to chase them all the way into the stands, like a lost child who thinks his Halloween candy is hidden behind a tree. Last week, he tracked a fly ball at Busch Stadium to the wall, climbed up onto the fence in front of the Dodgers bullpen, and failed to catch the ball. For some outfielders, wind could have played a role. Perhaps a wet field. The playing field, however, was as dry as a judge's kidneys, and the wind wasn't in it. Ozuna just terribly misjudged the ball, which landed plenty of distance in front of the fence.
He did the same thing last season, and often looks confused on what Harrison Bader would consider a routine catch. Whether it's doing a complete 360-degree turn or just running back on a fly ball like a drunk person would wander down a street after closing time, Ozuna gives baserunners and ultimately runs back to the other team in the field.
He is excused when his bat takes a massive cut and sends a baseball so high and far that the left fielder can't even get to the wall before it drifts away. Last season, Ozuna didn't hit his eighth home run until the middle of June. He ended the season with 23 home runs, a season divided by a sore shoulder and a very chilly start. It wasn't until June that Ozuna plugged into the 2018 season, hitting 7 home runs that month.
This year, he's already more than a third of the way to his 2018 total, paving the way for another 30 home run season. He will strike out 100 times, but that will make up less than 20% of his total plate appearances. Another flaw is that Ozuna doesn't walk that much, failing to collect even 70 free passes in a season. It's either a home run, ground out, or strikeout.
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Here's the thing. That's fine. As long as Ozuna slugs and bashes homers, the rough defense is bearable. Philosophers are still searching for gold and dinosaurs somewhere, and they may find those two things before the reason that Ozuna won a Gold Glove in 2017. His arm makes Matt Holliday's look like Vladimir Guerrero, and his range out there is average at best. The injuries to Harrison Bader and Tyler O'Neill give the Cardinals a scary outfield, and not in a good way. Expecting good defense from Ozuna is like expecting a gas station's coffee to taste like gourmet variety at midnight.
Ozuna is doing his job well. He's cleaning up for the bargain cost of $12.2 million this year. A season that will score him a decent payday from someone other than the Cardinals. I don't expect to see him in St. Louis 81 times next season. The frustrating rehab missions during the offseason or the slight disappointment, coupled with the aging process as he prepares to hit 30 years of age, spell a departure this winter.
Consider him a bridge to younger talents like O'Neill, Lane Thomas, and Randy Arozarena. A power-hitting bridge. I'll take it. You could have worse things out there. You could have 2018's first half version of Ozuna with even rougher defense. What you are getting is quite nice.
To me, it's the experience of watching him play that is oddly entertaining. You don't know what he's going to do. Tomorrow, he could make headlines for missing a fly ball in left, falling down in the corner, or bashing a pair of home runs. Somehow, you will hear about Ozuna at the end of the game. It's a given.
Here's the thing to remember. I don't worry about Ozuna the way I worry about the rotation. I don't worry about him the way I do about Dexter Fowler's ability to produce. I worry about Andrew Miller's ability to get the swing and misses more than Ozuna's next game. He has fallen down the list of worries on the Cardinals, and that's a good thing. Appreciate the lack of stress, no matter how messy it may appear.
As the wise guy said in The Godfather saga, leave the gun and take the cannoli. In Marcell Ozuna's case, take the power and stop hoping for a Gold Glover.
