Saturday seeds: Marcell Ozuna, prospect promotions, and the return plan for Jurickson Profar
Here's some of the news and notes you might have missed from this week
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What a wild week for the Atlanta Braves. Let’s break down everything you might have missed with this week’s Saturday Seeds news roundup.
Time to give Marcell a break?
Designated hitter Marcell Ozuna has been absolutely RAKING for the Atlanta Braves.
After starting the 2023 season in the world’s greatest slump, batting just .085 at the end of April, he went on a heater and hit .297 the rest of that year and then .302 last year, single-handedly carrying the offense at times.
But this year’s been a tale of two Marcells, depending on if you look at his numbers from either before or after the hip injury he suffered in Tampa Bay that knocked him out for the Toronto road trip.
Ozuna pre-injury: 15 games, .306/.477/.531/1.008 with 3 HR, 2 doubles, 16BB/17K
Ozuna post-injury: 48 games, .243/.370/.393/.763 with 7 HR, 5 doubles, 34BB/45K
A sixty-point reduction in batting average isn’t great. A 240-point reduction in OPS is dreadful.
And believe it or not, it’s even worse recently. From late May to the start of this weekend’s series against Colorado, here’s what he has done:
May 23rd: 17 games, .203/.311/.266/.576 with 1HR, 1 double, 9BB/20K
I’m beginning to wonder if some time off is needed for Marcell. While all of the reports on his hip tear are that he can’t make it worse while playing and that it won’t fully heal without multiple months of rest or surgery, he also hasn’t missed a single game since returning to the lineup after the Blue Jays series.
When Jurickson Profar returns for the July 2nd matchup with the Angels, there’s an easy runway to give Marcell some time off, either through benching him occasionally or even an injured list stint: Have Drake Baldwin serve as the primary DH and rotate Acuña and Profar through the DH slot whenever Baldwin is starting behind the plate.
(More on Profar’s rehab plans later in the newsletter.)
I don’t know if two weeks off would help Ozuna, or if this truly isn’t going to get better without surgery or an extended absence, but at this point, it’s worth a shot. Either Atlanta gets more production from the DH spot, and that helps them get back into the Wild Card race, or perhaps he comes back and hits better after the IL stint and restores some value prior to the July 31st trade deadline.
(UPDATE: Marcell Ozuna hit a three-run homer in the 7th inning of Friday’s game to break a tie with the Colorado Rockies. It was his first homer since June 1st.)
Potential reliever debuts in the 2nd half?
The Braves made two notable promotions from Double-A Columbus to Triple-A Gwinnett this week.
The first is lefty Hayden Harris. An undrafted free agent out of nearby Georgia Southern in 2022, the southpaw just joined the Stripers bullpen after allowing just two runs and eleven hits across 22.2 relief innings for the Clingstones, striking out 37.
He features a low-90s fastball that, on paper, isn’t very intimidating. Batters just don’t pick it up that well, however - I remember standing outside the Braves spring training clubhouse in 2024 and talking to Mark Bowman (MLB.com) and Justin Toscano (AJC) about how the stuff wasn’t that impressive, but hitters just couldn’t seem to see it out of the hand that well. Didn’t make sense to any of us until we watched a throwing session from behind the catcher - it’s just impossible to get a clean look at the ball and it absolutely sneaks up on you. It puts you on edge, letting his slider play up as a nice change-of-pace when you’re guarding against this invisible heater.
Joining Harris is 19-year-old RHP Didier Fuentes, who would be just the third teenager to play for the Stripers were he to debut before his June 17th birthday.
The other two teenagers? Some guys you may have heard of named Ronald Acuña Jr. and Ozzie Albies.
Fuentes throws in the mid-to-high-90s and the velocity plays up thanks to nearly seven feet of extension (from a six-foot frame)and an almost flat VAA. He pairs his oft-used heater with a slider that’s still a work in progress. He’s been working as a starter all season, but early indications are that he’ll pitch out of the pen and has the possibility of debuting as a reliever later in the year if the Braves end up selling at the deadline.
Even if neither Harris nor Fuentes debuts this year, they’re both candidates for some work next season. Embattled closer Raisel Iglesias is a free agent after this season and appears to be headed toward free agency (or a September DFA, honestly), while the quartet of Pierce Johnson, Joe Jiménez, Aaron Bummer, and Enyel De Los Santos can all walk after next season. That expected turnover, plus the uncertain status of injured flamethrower Daysbel Hernández, who is dealing with the dreaded “forearm inflammation”, means Atlanta may have several bullpen spots they can fill either late this season or next.
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Profar to start rehab games soon
One of the biggest blows to the Braves was Jurickson Profar’s PED suspension after only four games of the season.
He might be back soon. Confirming what I was told earlier this week but hadn’t yet been able to verify, MLB.com’s Mark Bowman reported on Friday afternoon that Profar would be going out for some minor league rehab games next week.
Profar’s been working with prospect Nacho Alvarez in North Port at Atlanta’s spring training complex for a while and will follow a similar, but longer, process than Ronald Acuña Jr. and Alvarez did: Starting off with a few Complex League rehab games before moving up the minor league ladder.
(Of note on Alvarez: He’s been working at third base, not shortstop, in his minor league rehab appearances. It doesn’t that he’ll be a possible Nick Allen replacement any time soon.)
Unlike the other two, Profar can’t return until July 2nd against the Angels, so the team will likely give him almost two full weeks of work in the minors before he’s activated and reinstalled as the everyday left fielder.
In Profar’s absence, both Alex Verdugo and Eli White have been rotating through left field after previous options Bryan De La Cruz and Jarred Kelenic were eventually removed from the role. Both outfielders have struggled recently, as well, hitting .154 (Verdugo) and .130 (White) in the last fifteen days.
Trade deadline chatter is all over the place
Depending on who you ask, the Braves are either planning on acquiring a leftfielder and shortstop at the deadline (the NY Post’s Jon Heyman), retooling for 2026 pieces, primarily pitching (The Athletic’s Jim Bowden), not trading anyone at all (Bleacher Report’s Tim Kelly), moving Marcell Ozuna (USA Today’s Bob Nightengale), or looking at moving the expected names plus Sean Murphy (The Athletic’s David O’Brien) and/or Chris Sale (MLB Trade Rumors’ Anthony Franco and seemingly every single online aggregator/clickbait factory).
The various outcomes of the July 31st deadline reflect the different directions this season can still go. As I wrote on Thursday, the schedule lines up for Atlanta to potentially get back into the Wild Card race, but not if they continue to have struggles like Friday night’s slow start against MLB’s worst team in the Colorado Rockies - it’s not as easy to come back against the Phillies or the Mets if you dig yourself a hole as it was versus the Rockies.
I’m in favor of moving more pieces than needed, simply because it’s one of the only ways Atlanta could upgrade rather quickly at shortstop without either signing a bad contract in free agency or making an expensive trade for a prospect that they need to break into the majors.