Marcell Ozuna has had one seriously impressive year so far, hasn't he? With five home runs in his last eight games and a batting average over .300, he's been killing the ball. He continued that on Monday night, going 2-4, 2 HR, 2 R, 3 RBI. How legit is this? Well the power has always been there, we know that. Even at the beginning of the year he was projected to hit 20-25 home runs fairly confidently. What's been surprising is the average, as he's often been a guy who would hit in the .260s. Well here's what I'll say: to his credit, his walk rate has gone up a couple points this year, it's actually at a career high. But, his chase rate is right about where it was last year, and his whiff rate is at a career high. Plus, his strikeout rate is at a three-year high. Add all that in with his .364 BABIP, and you've got a guy who's prime for an average regression. Like I said, I think the power is legit, and I think he could have a slightly higher average than he did last year, but I'm betting he's a .270 hitter at best the rest of the way. But if you're able to find someone who will pay you a king's ransom based on his performance so far, I'd jump on that.
Let's take a look at some of Monday's other performances:
Harper hit his homer off O’Day in the 8th.
Good catch! I had a total dumb attack. Don’t know why, I just had a memory of Harper hitting it earlier in the game. Maybe that was just a bad dream or something….
Did you see how high up that pitch was to Trumbo on the home run? Highest ball hit for a home run since 2008 haha
It was insane! I couldn’t believe he hit that for a home run