Battery Power Braves Player of the Week: Marcell Ozuna

What a difference a week makes. Or maybe more apt, what a difference a five-game series against the Miami Marlins makes.

The Atlanta Braves played eight games this week – but after being swept at home by the world-beating Milwaukee Brewers – they took four-of-the-five games they played against the Marlins for a break-even week that ended on a much better note that it began.

Starting pitchers Hurston Waldrep and Joey Wentz ended the week with excellent starts but it was the Braves offense that sparkled this week.

Many weeks this season, it has been tough finding more than one Braves position player whose credentials were worth of Player of the Week consideration, but not this week.

Several players had really nice weeks but weren’t even in the top three of individual performances – like Matt Olson and Michael Harris II.

It came down to three players for this week’s honor, and it wasn’t cut-and-dry.

Jurickson Profar was an on-base machine this week with 10 walks to go along with three home runs. He also made one of the best catches of the season while robbing a home run.

The counterbalance of that is that he made one of the worst misplays of a line drive hit right at him earlier this week. It’s been a forgettable season for Atlanta’s lone big free agent signee but a strong finish to the season would make projecting his 2026 more optimistic – whether that will be in Atlanta or somewhere else.

Drake Baldwin is awesome. Full stop.

Although he didn’t play on Sunday, he’s status as a full-time player has elevated his profile and his viability as the 2025 National League Rookie of the Year front runner. This week he had nine hits, two home runs, 10 RBI, two walks and a hit-by-pitch.

For the season, he has a .289/.357/.477 triple-slash and a 135 wRC+. Watching him play – and especially the way he takes at-bats – it is easy to forget that he is a rookie who the Braves retain control of through 2031.

Yet, despite another excellent week from the young catcher, Baldwin was not this week’s winner.

Battery Power Braves Player of the Week: Marcell Ozuna

After a two-month slump that may-or-may-not have been impacted by a hip issue, Marcell Ozuna has become Marcell Ozuna again. Had he been this hot two week ago, he might be plying his trade in a new zip code, but as it is the free agent-to-be has re-found his batting stroke in August for Atlanta.

This past week, he walked three times and got seven hits – four of which left the yard – and slugged his way closer to 300 career home runs and 150 home runs with the Braves.

This week he also drove in eight runs and scored five times for a .368/.455/1.000 slash line. His 1.455 OPS led the team this week and his four home runs matched his total for the month of July and doubled his output in June.

A solid argument could be made that Baldwin – or even Harris II or Profar – should have an advantage having gotten more plate appearances that Ozuna. Having that many options is a good thing for a team whose offense has struggled for much of the season.

It seems likely that Ozuna will move on from Atlanta after the conclusion of the 2025 campaign, but weeks like this past one are a reminder of how good of a designated hitter he is when he’s hitting well.

The four home runs he hit during the week carried him to a tie with Olson for the team lead with 19 home runs on the season. This week’s power surge brought him within one homer from tying Ron Gant for 16th on the Braves’ all-time home run list.