CT

snapchat: cjthrower That's life and it happens.

[CT @IncognitoCarter]

@noahcschultz hey man! Shot you a DM on Instagram. Wanted to see if you’d be interested in getting your 1/1 Pro Debut Logoman card!

[CT @IncognitoCarter]

@BomberBreaks @Topps @ronaldacunajr24 @Fanatics I just pulled the Lindor 1/1 is that person interested in a trade?

[KC Covington @Fried_Baseball]

THE CURIOUS CASE OF MARCELL OZUNA

The Rise and Fall and Rise Again of Atlanta’s Designated Hitter

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — "I’m Ozuna from the Braves."

Those words, captured from police body cam footage during a 4:30 a.m. traffic stop between home games in August of last year, would be the last straw for the character-conscious Braves.

Right?!

I mean, SURELY, after his second arrest in as many years (this time on suspicion of DUI), the front office was bound to cut its losses and turn “The Big Bear” loose.

It would be one thing, perhaps, if he had been raking as he did in 2020, pausing his many home run trots only for imaginary selfies near the Braves’ dugout. But he wasn’t.

In fact, since inking a $65 million extension after his standout performance in that pandemic-shortened season, Ozuna — to quote the late great Patches O'Houlihan (RIP) — had been “about as useful as a poop-flavored lollipop.”

In 2021 and 2022, he posted a combined negative -1.0 WAR with an OPS barely north of .650.

Still, the Braves had stuck with him. Brian Snitker displayed the patience of a saint, fielding repeated postgame reporter queries about Ozuna’s futility without ever revealing a hint of irritation.

But when news broke of his second arrest in metro Atlanta, full-time beat writers started pre-writing their “Braves Part Ways with Troubled Designated Hitter” columns. And reporters and fans alike waited for the hammer to drop, convinced that Ozuna’s days — or perhaps hours — with the team were numbered.

But as days turned to weeks, it soon became apparent that the Braves still weren’t ready to push the eject button on Marcell.

Up till then, Atlanta fans had spared him the relentless barrage of boos he might have suffered in Philly simply for going hitless in a doubleheader.

But after two arrests and two years of watching him cash fat checks for doing a convincing impression of a 230 lb Dominican paperweight, fans had finally had enough of Ozuna from the Braves. For the remainder of the season, he got an earful each and every time he strolled to the dish. Braves fans could even be heard jeering him on the road.

For those of us watching from the stands, it was tough to comprehend why the team was still tolerating his presence.

Given Marcell’s actions away from the ballpark, it was reasonable for fans to presume that he was a radioactive turd behind closed doors, permeating the clubhouse air with toxic fecal matter.

(Achievement unlocked: Mention poop twice in one baseball column)

But by all accounts, that couldn’t be further from the truth.

If he had been a negative force disrupting the carefully curated chemistry of this team, Alex Anthopoulos and Co. would never have re-signed him to that 4-year extension.

It seems there’s something about a big-league ballpark that unlocks the best version of Marcell as a human being.

From the moment he donned a Braves uniform, he had been a model teammate… a hard-working, affable, veteran leader; a mentor to younger players, particularly to Atlanta’s plentiful young Latin stars.

Following Ozuna’s 2021 arrest on domestic violence charges, he was placed on leave and later suspended by the league, watching the team’s historic World Series run, like the rest of us, on a TV screen.

The following winter, the Braves reportedly asked Ozuna’s teammates if he would still be welcome in their clubhouse. And the answer, overwhelmingly, was “yes.”

It seems that to his teammates, the Marcell pictured in a now locally infamous mugshot, and described in a disturbing police report, simply was not the same Marcell they had come to know. They viewed him as a man worthy of a second chance.

So, after apologizing to his team and expressing his regret, he got one.

And after his 2022 arrest, he, somewhat surprisingly, got another one.

But why??

I know what you’re thinking. “Simple. Atlanta still owed him $36 million.”

That was a very, very big part of the equation, no doubt. But it wasn’t the only factor. His aforementioned popularity among his teammates bought him more latitude than many outside observers felt he deserved.

And the fact is, regardless of his personal struggles or putrid on-field performance, his demeanor never changed. He never radiated negative energy or hung like a grey nimbostratus cloud (word to my science geeks) over the clubhouse.

To put it more simply, other than his lack of production at the plate, he was in no way dragging his teammates down with him. And that too bought him more time.

Finally, the coaching staff remained convinced that the Marcell Ozuna of 2020 was still in there somewhere. The bat speed, the ability — it was all still there. And if he were to return to form, the team certainly didn’t want to pay him $36 million to watch him do it in pinstripes. Or worse, a Mets uniform or a “P”-stained ballcap.

So Marcell would stick around. At least for one more winter. At least for one more spring.

And shortly after the Braves reported to camp in North Port, Florida, in February, it began to look as though the Buick-sized block of ice in which Ozuna’s bat had been frozen for two years… just might be beginning to thaw.
He wrapped up the pre-season Grapefruit League campaign having hit .315 with an .854 OPS, showing signs of the hitter he had been back when MLB was piping fake crowd noise into the stands.

But then the bell rang, and the games were for real. And even by Marcell’s recent standards, he looked worse than Freddy Krueger in drag. His April stats in 55 ABs:

.091, 2 HR, 8 RBI, .206 OPS.

Once again, many fans and journalists speculated that news of Ozuna’s release could drop at any moment.

Then the calendar flipped to May.

The Braves charter jet touched down in Miami as the Braves opened a 3-game set against the Marlins. And I don’t know what it was — perhaps the cavernous echoes of a nearly-empty LoanDepot Park reminded him of the fanless stands of 2020 — but a very different No. 20 emerged from the visiting dugout.

He went 6-for-13 with 3 HR, 6 RBI in that series and never looked back.

Suddenly, as if by magic, the corpse of his career was miraculously reanimated.

Ozuna since May 1 (413 AB):

.293, 32 HR, 79 RBI, .938 OPS

For the season as a whole, there are only two qualified designated hitters with an OPS better than Marcell’s .870 mark: Shohei Ohtani and Bryce Harper.

Quite a turnaround for a player who looked like a deadweight contract just 4 or 5 months earlier.

Many people, including me, were highly critical of Ozuna for the better part of 2 years. If you are among them, you don’t owe anyone an apology. The criticism, both on and off the field, was richly deserved.

But as “The Big Bear” turned his 2023 season around, some hit me with tweets like, “Oh, you must be mad! Lol,” as though I had somehow delighted in his self-destruction. Absolutely not. I took no pleasure in any of it. I have never wished him ill. And it has always been my hope and prayer that he would turn things around on the diamond, and infinitely more importantly, away from it.

I can’t speak to the latter, but nearly 150 games into the 2023 season, it’s safe to say that this is the kind of offensive production the Braves were hoping for when they locked him up through his age-33 season.

This is the Ozuna from the Braves the team needed.

#Braves .

[CT @IncognitoCarter]

@Mystinc_t @MLBONFOX @MLB Rangers lol

[🦂 @MOSEYCOZY]

High school students from Brunswick, GA bound an unconscious and unresponsive boy to a chair, spray painted him from head to toe, pissed on him, took a shit in his lap and then DROPPED HIM OFF at the ER. ‼️

No arrests have been made! Currently under investigation by the GCPD.‼️

[MLB @MLB]

For the 5th straight season, the @Braves are NL East champs! #CLINCHED

[The Royal Family @RoyalFamily]

The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon.

The King and The Queen Consort will remain at Balmoral this evening and will return to London tomorrow.

[CT @IncognitoCarter]

@greeneisgold This is the best answer anyway haha

[CT @IncognitoCarter]

@KevinJoel26 Dawg you barely made it the first time

[CT @IncognitoCarter]

Grieving for someone who’s still alive is rough

[DoctorBobble @DoctorBobble]

Oh puh-lease. He was a simple "Yes" away from being a Brave. He got greedy and burned himself.

I'm proud of what FF5 accomplished as a Brave, but his departure is just ugly. Fair offer was on the table.

He went elsewhere, which is fine, but "gutted" isn't it.

[CT @IncognitoCarter]

@KevinJoel26 I got photos of you outside

[CT @IncognitoCarter]

I deserve some good karma

[𝗕𝗿𝗲𝗲𝘇𝘆’🦉 @OvOBrezzzy]

Rappers really be dissing they own fans “U working minimum wage while I spend ur rent at the club” bro I’m tryna feed my family

[Spac𝑒 @sadcrib]

imagine u in court and they bring out nardwuar as a witness

[CT @IncognitoCarter]

@KevinJoel26 I’ve got one for you Yung Kevin™️