Miami Marlins: How Marcell Ozuna Became a Part of the Core

After a trying 2015 season in which he spent a month in the minors, Marcell Ozuna was a name mentioned in trade rumors repeatedly in the offseason. The Miami Marlins chose to hold on to the young center fielder, and their decision looks very wise now.

After a disappointing 71-91 finish in the NL East last season, the Miami Marlins were stuck in a tough place. The Mets were fresh off a World Series run, and the Nationals were looking as strong as ever, making a run at the division looking bleak at best.

However, the Marlins refused to make any knee-jerk reactions in the offseason. They chose to retain their core players and their biggest offseason signing was Wei-Yin Chen. Few expected big things in Miami this year, but they have been one of the most surprising teams in baseball this season. They are currently tied for the second wild card in the NL, and they look poised to make their first playoff appearance since they won it all in 2003. One of the biggest reasons for their success this season? Look no further than stud center fielder Marcell Ozuna.

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The Marlins signed Ozuna as an amateur free agent out of the Dominican Republic in 2008. He made his big league debut in 2013, hitting a pedestrian .265/.303/.389 and posting an OPS+ of 90. The numbers weren’t good, but he was only 22 years old, and the potential was clearly still there. He broke out in 2014, hitting .269/.317/.455 with 23 home runs and an OPS+ of 114, well above league average. Ozuna looked primed to become a star alongside fellow Marlin Giancarlo Stanton.

Many projected that Ozuna would take the next step and become a star, building on his strong 2014, but instead he flopped. He regressed to numbers almost identical to what he posted his rookie season, hitting .259/.308/.383 and posting an OPS+ of 90. In July, he was optioned to Triple-A. It appears as if the Marlins did that to manipulate his service time so he’d hit arbitration later. Whatever they did it for, Ozuna was very unhappy, and the organization wasn’t happy with him. So, unsurprisingly, he was mentioned in trade rumors left and right. Miami decided against trading him, and they seem to have made the right call.

Marcell Ozuna has put the disappointing 2015 season behind him and has put together an impressive season thus far. Not only that, he’s also established himself as one of the best center fielders in the game. He’s currently batting .298/.352/.514 with 19 home runs, and he has posted 3.4 WAR, per Fangraphs. His mark of 3.4 only trails Mike Trout, Ian Desmond, and Jackie Bradley Jr.

So, what is he doing differently? Well first of all, he’s improved both his walk rate and his strikeout rate. His walk rate currently sits at 7.7%, up from 6.1% last year, and his strikeout rate sits at 19.6%, down from 22.3% last season. His isolated power has improved by nearly 100 points, up to .216 after posting a measly .124 mark last season. Ozuna has even hit five triples so far this season, five more than he hit all of last year. Another reason for his drop-off last season was the disappearance of his plus defense. The defense has come back this season, posting a 4.5 UZR/150 after being a -2.7 last season.

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Ozuna’s uptick in performance this season appears to be for real, and that has to be exciting for the Marlins. Their outfield of the future appears to be set with Christian Yelich, Ozuna and Giancarlo Stanton. Ozuna is under club control through 2020, and he is still only 25 years old. Ozuna’s journey from cast-off to core piece is complete, but why stop there? With his whole prime ahead of him and strong bats protecting him in the lineup, it’s not hard to envision him becoming a star.

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