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When the Pittsburgh Pirates signed Marcell Ozuna, the hope was for the former slugger to come in and do what he's done for a lot of his career, which is swing the bat at a high level and leave the yard.
It isn't that Ozuna has ever been some superstar throughout his career, but this has been a guy who can really leave the yard at any given moment.
There's a reason why he was one of the better hitters in a stacked Atlanta Braves lineup, that's because he blasted 39 in 2024 and left the yard 40 times in 2023.
The hope, of course, in Pittsburgh, was that he wouldn't regress to what he was in 2025 at times, though he still managed to hit 21 home runs that season.
Fast forward to this year with the Pirates, and now with seven home runs and a .204 batting average, as well as a .330 slugging percentage, the worst of his entire career, there's even been some talk that Ozuna could be let go at some point over the next few weeks to months.
If the Pirates could trade him for anything at this point and not have to keep the rest of his salary, it feels very safe to say that they'd be willing to do so.
However, the Pirates are of the belief that he can turn things around, with skipper Don Kelly recently saying that he's swinging the bat better, and he's hopeful that he's going to get back to where everybody knows Ozuna can be.
“He’s been swinging the bat better and finding a way to get him in there,” Kelly said, per TribLive. “Felt like it was a good matchup today against a guy that throws strikes. Honestly, on the road trip, he had really good at-bats, and we’ve started to see him come out of it. I think we’re going to start to see a different Marcell Ozuna.”
Ozuna admitted that his timing has been off, which is often the biggest problem any hitter can face in Major League Baseball. There are definitely times when he seems all out of whack, though he has been a bit better recently, getting a hit in four of his last five games.
“My timing has been off. It’s hard because sometimes you miss,” Ozuna said. “You’re on the bench, and it’s hard when you come in from the bench and you’re trying to do some damage because you haven’t seen a pitcher for a while. I’m missing five games where I did not play, just doing my work in the cage and then get back on track.”
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It isn't that Ozuna has ever been some superstar throughout his career, but this has been a guy who can really leave the yard at any given moment.
There's a reason why he was one of the better hitters in a stacked Atlanta Braves lineup, that's because he blasted 39 in 2024 and left the yard 40 times in 2023.
The hope, of course, in Pittsburgh, was that he wouldn't regress to what he was in 2025 at times, though he still managed to hit 21 home runs that season.
Fast forward to this year with the Pirates, and now with seven home runs and a .204 batting average, as well as a .330 slugging percentage, the worst of his entire career, there's even been some talk that Ozuna could be let go at some point over the next few weeks to months.
If the Pirates could trade him for anything at this point and not have to keep the rest of his salary, it feels very safe to say that they'd be willing to do so.
However, the Pirates are of the belief that he can turn things around, with skipper Don Kelly recently saying that he's swinging the bat better, and he's hopeful that he's going to get back to where everybody knows Ozuna can be.
“He’s been swinging the bat better and finding a way to get him in there,” Kelly said, per TribLive. “Felt like it was a good matchup today against a guy that throws strikes. Honestly, on the road trip, he had really good at-bats, and we’ve started to see him come out of it. I think we’re going to start to see a different Marcell Ozuna.”
Ozuna admitted that his timing has been off, which is often the biggest problem any hitter can face in Major League Baseball. There are definitely times when he seems all out of whack, though he has been a bit better recently, getting a hit in four of his last five games.
“My timing has been off. It’s hard because sometimes you miss,” Ozuna said. “You’re on the bench, and it’s hard when you come in from the bench and you’re trying to do some damage because you haven’t seen a pitcher for a while. I’m missing five games where I did not play, just doing my work in the cage and then get back on track.”
Continue reading...
