Pirates' Marcell Ozuna: Slaps three-run homer in loss
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Ozuna went 1-for-4 with a walk and a three-run home run during Thursday's 8-7 loss to the Nationals.
Ozuna has been mired in a big slump to start the season, but he seems to be shaking that off and heating up as of late. The 35-year-old crushed his first home run of the season Thursday, a three-run homer in the fifth that allowed the Pirates to match a four-run inning by the Nationals with one of their own. After having just two hits in the first 10 games, the 14-year veteran has five hits as part of a four-game hit streak.
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Pirates' Marcell Ozuna: Small signs of improvement
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Ozuna went 1-for-4 with an RBI on Wednesday against the Nationals.
Ozuna drove in one of Pittsburgh's two runs with a single in the first inning. That extended his hitting streak to three games and continued some needed improvement, as he had only two hits across his first 39 at-bats of the year. During his modest three-game hit streak, Ozuna has one double, two RBI and a run scored.
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Pirates' Marcell Ozuna: Sliding back to bench Monday
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Ozuna is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Nationals.
After a recent two-game benching, Ozuna returned to the starting nine for all three contests of the Pirates' series versus the Cubs over the weekend but went just 1-for-12 with a walk and four strikeouts. Now sitting on a lowly .070/.167/.070 slash line over 48 plate appearances on the season, Ozuna could be in line for a part-time role at designated hitter until he turns a corner at the dish.
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Pirates' Marcell Ozuna: On bench again Wednesday
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Ozuna is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Padres.
For the third time in four games, Ozuna will hit the bench after getting off to a porous start to the season. Over 35 plate appearances, the veteran slugger is slashing just .065/.171/.065. Ozuna is still walking at a 11.4 percent clip, and his strikeout rate sits at a manageable 22.9 percent, so he'll have some hope for a turnaround if he can benefit from some better luck on balls in play.
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Pirates' Marcell Ozuna: On bench again Tuesday
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Ozuna is out of the lineup for Tuesday's game against the Padres.
Ozuna went 0-for-4 in Monday's series opener, dropping his season slash line down to .065/.171/.065 through 35 plate appearances. Brandon Lowe is resting his legs as the designated hitter Tuesday, opening up second base for Nick Gonzales.
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Pirates' Marcell Ozuna: Sitting amid slump
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Ozuna is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Orioles
Ozuna went 1-for-4 with two strikeouts in Saturday's contest to break a four-game hitless streak, but he'll take a seat for Sunday's series finale versus Baltimore. Bryan Reynolds will rest his legs as the designated hitter, opening up a spot in the outfield for Jake Mangum.
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Pirates' Marcell Ozuna: Receiving breather Sunday
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Ozuna is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Mets.
The veteran slugger will receive the afternoon off after he started the Pirates' first two games of the season and went 1-for-9 with a walk. With Ozuna on the bench, Bryan Reynolds will cede left field to Jake Mangum and shift to designated hitter.
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Pirates' Marcell Ozuna: Lands $12 million deal with Pirates
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The Pirates signed Ozuna to a one-year, $10.5 million contract Monday, Jeff Passan of ESPN.com reports. The deal includes a $16 million mutual option or $1.5 million buyout for 2027.
Ozuna produced a disappointing .232/.355/.400 batting line with 21 home runs over 145 games for Atlanta in 2025. However, a nagging hip injury was likely at least partly to blame, and he is just a year removed from a 39-homer season. Ozuna will slide into the designated hitter role in Pittsburgh, likely pushing Ryan O'Hearn to left field and Jake Mangum to a fourth outfielder role.
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Braves' Marcell Ozuna: Homers Wednesday
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Ozuna went 1-for-2 with a solo home run and a pair of walks in Wednesday's 4-3 loss to the Nationals.
Ozuna cut Atlanta's deficit to 4-2 in the eighth inning with a 404-foot blast off Jackson Rutledge. It was Ozuna's 21st homer of the year and his first in 33 games. It's been a disappointing year overall for the 34-year-old Ozuna, though he's swung the bat better of late, going 13-for-42 (.310) with an .884 OPS in his last 12 contests.
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Braves' Marcell Ozuna: Resting Saturday
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Ozuna isn't in the lineup for Saturday's game against Detroit.
Ozuna will retreat to the dugout Saturday after going 0-for-4 with a strikeout in Friday's series opener. Drake Baldwin will replace him as Atlanta's designated hitter, allowing Sandy Leon to start at catcher.
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Braves' Marcell Ozuna: Drives in three in big win
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Ozuna went 3-for-5 with a double and three RBI in Wednesday's 9-4 win over the Nationals.
The veteran DH has fallen to eighth in the order in most of Atlanta's recent lineups, but he was able to make an impact from that spot Wednesday with a two-run single in the sixth inning and an RBI double in the eighth. The RBI were his first since Aug. 26, and Ozuna has gone 28 games without a home run, leaving him stalled at 20 on the season. His bat has been showing signs of life of late, however -- he's batting .360 (9-for-25) over his last seven contests with four doubles.
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Braves' Marcell Ozuna: Sitting out first game
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Ozuna is not in the lineup for the first game of Tuesday's doubleheader against the Nationals.
Atlanta will go with Ronald Acuna in the designated-hitter spot and Eli White in right field for the first game of the twin bill. Ozuna will likely be back in the lineup for the nightcap.
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Braves' Marcell Ozuna: On bench Saturday
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Ozuna isn't in the lineup for Saturday's game against Seattle.
Ozuna will retreat to the bench Saturday after going 1-for-4 with a pair of strikeouts in Friday's series opener. Drake Baldwin will work as Atlanta's designated hitter instead with Sean Murphy behind the plate.
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Braves' Marcell Ozuna: Sitting out third straight
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Ozuna is not in the lineup for Monday's game versus the Cubs.
Ozuna will take a seat for the third straight game and for the fourth time over the past six contests. Jurickson Profar will serve as Atlanta's designated hitter, and Jake Fraley will play left field while Ozuna is on the bench. Atlanta could continue to rotate multiple players in at DH down the stretch, resulting in unsteady playing time for Ozuna.
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Braves' Marcell Ozuna: On bench again Sunday
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Ozuna is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Phillies.
It's the second straight lineup absence for Ozuna, who is batting .108 (4-for-37) over his past 12 games and is without a homer since Aug. 13. Ronald Acuna is resting his legs as the designated hitter Sunday, which opens up right field for Eli White.
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Braves' Marcell Ozuna: Taking seat Wednesday
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Ozuna is absent from the lineup for Wednesday's game in Miami.
Ozuna has followed a hot stretch with another slump, having gone 3-for-30 with 13 strikeouts over his last nine contests. He'll get a day off to regroup while Ronald Acuna serves as Atlanta's designated hitter and Jake Fraley (knee) plays right field.
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Braves' Marcell Ozuna: Belts pair of homers Saturday
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Ozuna went 2-for-4 with a pair of home runs and four total RBI during an 8-6 victory against the Marlins in a the second game of Saturday's doubleheader.
Ozuna didn't play in Game 1 but got the start at DH while batting cleanup in Game 2. He certainly did clean up, rocking Miami starter Sandy Alcantara for a pair of homers amounting to four total runs across the fourth and fifth frames. Ozuna has five home runs and 11 RBI across his past 11 contests, helping his case to remain Atlanta's regular DH after losing his grip on that role at times this season. He's started four of the team's past five games following a three-game stretch out of the lineup between Aug. 2 and Aug. 5.
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Braves' Marcell Ozuna: Belts 16th homer
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Ozuna went 3-for-4 with a solo home run in Thursday's win over the Marlins.
The veteran slugger went back-to-back with Drake Baldwin in the first inning off Eury Perez, staking Atlanta to an early 2-0 lead. Ozuna has finally gotten hot at the plate after a brutal first half of the season, and over his last nine games he's batting .333 (8-for-24) with three of his 16 homers on the year.
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Braves' Marcell Ozuna: Draws three walks in win
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Ozuna went 1-for-2 with three walks, three runs scored and an RBI in Thursday's 12-11 extra-inning win over the Reds.
The veteran designated hitter was widely expected to get shipped out by Atlanta at the trade deadline, but the deadline came and went without a deal in place to send Ozuna to a contender. He's started four straight games -- three against left-handers and one against a righty -- and even hit cleanup Thursday, going 4-for-13 with two home runs, six RBI and a 6:1 BB:K during that span. However, his .235/.365/.399 slash line on the season and the remaining money on his $16 million salary for 2025 was apparently enough to deter teams from submitting a trade offer that Atlanta found palatable. With no reason to showcase the 34-year-old any further, Ozuna could slip back into a bench role while catchers Drake Baldwin and Sean Murphy get more work at designated hitter the rest of the way.
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Braves' Marcell Ozuna: Goes yard again Tuesday
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Ozuna went 2-for-4 with a walk, a home run and three RBI in Tuesday's loss to the Royals.
The veteran DH has started three of the last four games as he gets showcased for a potential trade, and Ozuna has done his part to boost his value by going yard in back-to-back contests. Four of his 15 homers on the season have come in July, but he only has eight total hits on the month, batting .167 (8-for-48) over 17 games.
