Braves’ Marcell Ozuna Benched for Loafing After 415-Foot Single

The Atlanta outfielder stood at home plate and admired as the ball caromed off the outfield wall.

Braves manager Brian Snitker confirmed that outfielder Marcell Ozuna was benched in Sunday’s win over the Diamondbacks after an embarrassing sequence in which he was caught gawking at his 415-foot mammoth hit, resulting in only a single. 

In the top of the fourth inning, with the score tied 3–3 and no runners on base, Ozuna hit an absolute bomb to center field off a Zac Gallen fastball. Ozuna apparently believed he’d hit a home run, and he stood at the plate and watched the ball sail to the outfield only to carom off the wall. It was only then that he decided to start running, and he barely made it to first base safely. 

Brian Snitker confirms that Marcell Ozuna was benched today because he didn’t hustle, per @BNightengale

This comes while Ozuna is one of baseball’s hottest hitters, sporting a 1.003 OPS since the beginning of May pic.twitter.com/HVKCua6dkC

— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) June 4, 2023

Ozuna clearly would’ve had extra bases if he’d hustled immediately after making contact. Instead, Snitker pulled Ozuna from the game, and he finished 1-for-1 on the day. 

The Braves won 8–5 and improved to 35–24 atop the NL East standings.