Coming off a 2015 in which FanGraphs rated him as below average both offensively and defensively, Marcell Ozuna rebounded the following year to produce 2.5 WAR, then the second highest mark of his career. Entering 2017, Dan Szymborski’s ZiPS projections pegged Ozuna to be worth exactly 2.5 wins again.
Oh how modest a projection that would prove to be.
There are only so many different combinations of words one can use to describe Ozuna’s breakout campaign. Of chief importance was that his batting performance increased 36% as measured by wRC+. He would end last year with 4.