It's not the .193 batting average, believe it or not.
It's not the .573 OPS that's the fourth-lowest among the full Major League Baseball fraternity.
It's not that, if one aspires to get all advanced in the analysis, his bat speed's sunk to a career-low 73.4 mph, he's putting the barrel on the ball with 8.1% of his swings or less than half as often as he was two years ago in Atlanta and -- my favorite -- he's swinging through a mind-blowing 46.2% of the offspeed pitches he sees.
Nope, this right here's the most damning Marcell Ozuna stat of all: Dude hardly ever plays.
The Pirates' 11-2 loss to the Athletics last night in Sacramento, Calif., marked the fourth straight game in which he didn't participate at all and -- sit down for this -- the 11th time in 16 games. No pinch-hitting. Nothing. Other than cheerleading from the dugout.
Not sure, to be blunt, I've ever covered anything like it. And I've lived through Derek Bell, Jeromy Burnitz, Rowdy Tellez and a few other doozies.
Ozuna isn't hurt, obviously. Management wouldn't be able to pounce quickly enough at the opportunity to stick him on the IL for ... oh, four months or so. He's just unplayable.
And to remind, he's being paid $12 million as Ben Cherington's finishing touch to the offseason in which, as I reported exclusively last fall, he'd been told from above he could spend up to a franchise-record $110 million provided it'd bring a bat that'd put the lineup "over the top."
THE ASYLUM
DK: Ozuna's most damning stat
It's not the .193 batting average, believe it or not.
It's not the .573 OPS that's the fourth-lowest among the full Major League Baseball fraternity.
It's not that, if one aspires to get all advanced in the analysis, his bat speed's sunk to a career-low 73.4 mph, he's putting the barrel on the ball with 8.1% of his swings or less than half as often as he was two years ago in Atlanta and -- my favorite -- he's swinging through a mind-blowing 46.2% of the offspeed pitches he sees.
Nope, this right here's the most damning Marcell Ozuna stat of all: Dude hardly ever plays.
The Pirates' 11-2 loss to the Athletics last night in Sacramento, Calif., marked the fourth straight game in which he didn't participate at all and -- sit down for this -- the 11th time in 16 games. No pinch-hitting. Nothing. Other than cheerleading from the dugout.
Not sure, to be blunt, I've ever covered anything like it. And I've lived through Derek Bell, Jeromy Burnitz, Rowdy Tellez and a few other doozies.
Ozuna isn't hurt, obviously. Management wouldn't be able to pounce quickly enough at the opportunity to stick him on the IL for ... oh, four months or so. He's just unplayable.
And to remind, he's being paid $12 million as Ben Cherington's finishing touch to the offseason in which, as I reported exclusively last fall, he'd been told from above he could spend up to a franchise-record $110 million provided it'd bring a bat that'd put the lineup "over the top."
About that ...
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