Atlanta Braves designated hitter Marcell Ozuna was pulled from Sunday's game against the Diamondbacks (ATL 8, ARI 5) after not running out a deep fly ball. The incident took place in the fourth inning after Ozuna drilled a Zac Gallen pitch deep to center field. Assuming it was a home run, Ozuna didn't run out of the box and instead watched the flight of the ball.
The ball wound up striking an overhang and staying in the park, and as a result Ozuna was left with a 415-foot single.
Take a look:
Marcell Ozuna stood and watched what he thought was a home run… he ended up with a single 🥶pic.twitter.com/vL0xMFN69Y
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) June 4, 2023
When Ozuna was due up again in the sixth inning, he was replaced by Sean Murphy. After the game, Braves manager Brian Snitker confirmed that Ozuna was removed from the game because of his failure to run out the deep drive. "I guarantee he feels worse than I do for having to take him out," Snitker said.
This season, the 32-year-old Ozuna is batting .227/.312/.468 (108 OPS+) with 11 home runs in 44 games for the first-place Braves. The two-time All-Star is in the third year of a four-year, $65 million contract that also includes a club option for 2025.
