One of Pirates Worst Eras Finally Ends
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MILWAUKEE — The Pittsburgh Pirates have made some poor additions to the team in recent history, but Marcell Ozuna was easily the one of the worst ones they have ever made.
The Pirates are designating Ozuna for assignment ahead of their next game vs. the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Field, cutting ties with their veteran slugger in the last two months of the season.
Ozuna joined the Pirates on a one-year, $12 million contract on Feb. 16, which also included a $16 million mutual option for the 2027 season, if both parties had interest.
This decision from the Pirates was a long time coming and really should've come much earlier, but at least now, they can move on from their worst signing over the past two decades.
Marcell Ozuna Was Just Awful at the Plate
It's not harsh to say that the Pirates would've been better off putting almost anyone at designated hitter than Ozuna this season and the stats back that up.
Ozuna slashed .203/.286/.327 for an OPS of .613 in 70 games, with 51 hits in 252 at-bats, seven doubles, eight home runs, 29 RBI and 27 walks to 80 strikeouts.
He was one of the worst hitters in baseball with at least 250 plate appearances, third-least runs scored (22), 7th-worst WRC (27), 10th-least hits, tied for the 10th-worst batting average and WRC+ (69), the 11th-worst OPS, 13th-worst wOBA (.275), 21st-worst slugging percentage and 25th-worst on-base percentage.
The Pirates paid Ozuna $12 million, one of the highest-paying contracts they've ever handed out, and essentially threw money away at a terrible player when they would've been better off burning it.
Pittsburgh signed Ozuna as a right-handed power bat in a heavy left-handed hitting lineup, giving them a chance to take on left-handed starting pitchers without too much of a disadvantage.
Ozuna was not only bad at hitting righties, he also couldn't hit lefties either, batting .207/.291/.370 for an OPS of .661, with just 19 hits in 92 at-bats.
The Pirates are 10-23 against left-handed starting pitching this season and were 26-40 in games that Ozuna started oveall, which included seven defeats in his last eight starts, most of which came against left-handed pitchers.
His advanced stats show massive regression in mostly all aspects of his game from a 2025 season that he had hip issues, as he was a weaker, slower and worse hitter all-around.
Stat | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|
Expected Weighted On-Base Average (xwOBA) | .354 (84th-percentile) | .304 (28th-percentile) |
Weighted On-Base Average (wOBA) | .334 (165th-worst) | .275 (14th-worst) |
Expected Batting Average (xBA) | .239 (28th percentile) | .221 (12th-percentile) |
Expected Slugging Percentage (xSLG) | .448 (66th percentile) | .389 (44th percentile) |
Barrel % | 11.5 (71st percentile) | 7.7 (50th percentile) |
Hard-Hit % | 44.6% (56th percentile) | 36.8% (31st percentile) |
Squared-Up % | 24.0% (33rd percentile) | 20.3% (13th percentile) |
Chase % | 22.4% (84th percentile) | 26.7% (69th percentile) |
Whiff % | 25.8% (40th percentile) | 30.1% (19th percentile) |
K % (Strikeout Rate) | 24.3% (30th percentile) | 28.6% (12th percentile) |
BB % (Walk Rate) | 15.9% (98th percentile) | 12.9% (56th percentile) |
He also finished with a -1.0 WAR in 2026, one of 13 players with a -1.0 WAR or worse this season, putting him amongst the worst players in MLB this season.
What Took the Pirates So Long to Move On From Ozuna?
It wasn't like Ozuna started the season incredibly well and it's been a recent slump that saw the Pirates move on from the 35-year-old.
Ozuna was terrible to start the season, slashing .070/.167/.070 for an OPS of .237, and didn't get above a .200 batting average until June 23, almost halfway through 2026.
The Pirates had Ozuna as their starting designated hitter for the first two months of the season and he had little to show for it, batting .186/.271/.302 for an OPS of .573 in 46 games, with 32 hits in 146 at-bats, five doubles, five home runs, 21 RBI and 18 walks to 56 strikeouts.
Pittsburgh mostly relegated Ozuna to a reserve role after May 27, generally starting against left-handed pitching, where he hit better, .241/.318/.380 for an OPS of .698, but started just 23 of 24 games of the team's 57 games following that point.
The Pirates went with other players at designated hitter, with Bryan Reynolds starting 13 games, Ryan O'Hearn starting 12 games, Brandon Lowe playing five games there, while both Konnor Griffin and Spencer Horwitz had three games each there.
It became quickly apparent that the Pirates were paying Ozuna all this money to hardly play, while they had a better use of the designated hitter spot, which was giving their better hitters time off from playing the field and focusing fully on hitting, particularly in the case of both Reynolds and O'Hearn.
The Pirates keeping Ozuna around was almost based on the fact that the Pirates have had so many injuries to key lineup players that they hoped he could turn it around and help them, while also not having to move him off the roster yet.
Pittsburgh clearly realized that, with their recent offensive struggles, they couldn't keep a sole designated hitter on their 26-man roster and needed to make a move, improving their roster with addition by subtraction.
Maybe the Most Hated Pirates Player in Recent History
The Pirates have had their fair share of players who fans have despised and not cared for, but Ozuna might take the prize for the most hated player that general manager Ben Cherington signed and maybe over the past 20-30 years.
Ozuna never had much fan support, getting booed at the first homestand and having that continue throughout the season, even if he had some decent moments, like a home run or an RBI.
These boos and jeers continued through the last homestand, one where the Pirates went 2-4 against two National League Wild Card teams in the Chicago Cubs and Arizona Diamondbacks, July 24-29.
Ozuna also drew the ire of Pirates fans with his effort on the base paths, who while understandably not fast at his age, was so slow and showed so little effort that drew more ire from Pirates fans, who despised his lack of effort on groundouts.
The Pirates signing Ozuna also came with the knowledge that he had a domestic violence case against him in 2021.
Cherington spoke about the incident after the signing in February that Ozuna had shown remorse about the incident and was an important part of the Atlanta Braves clubhouse during his six seasons there from 2020-25.
While Cherington, who has signed players with domestic violence cases in the past, might have found that Ozuna proved he deserved that chance, and that Ozuna played a role in helping younger Pirates players this year, particularly Oneil Cruz, fans were understandbly going to be wary of signing a player with this incident in their history.
It also didn't help that Ozuna took the designated hitter role from Andrew McCutchen, who the Pirates moved on from to spend more money on a slugger with a troubled past that didn't come close to expectations.
McCutchen struggled with the Texas Rangers and hasn't really done much of note in 2026, but transitioning from a franchise legend in McCutchen to Ozuna, was always going to anger a portion of Pirates fans.
The poor play from Ozuna and his personal history made him an easy target for fans displeasure and it seemed like from the start, he'd never get the Pirates fan base on his side.
Pirates Can Finally Improve Their Roster From Here
Ozuna not occupying a spot on the Pirates' 26-man roster now gives them a chance to make their roster that much better, by adding what they need for the future.
The Pirates are set to add outfielder Ronny Simon to the 26-man roster and 40-man roster, as they will select his contract from Triple-A Indianapolis ahead of the next game vs. the Brewers.
Simon provides experience at all three outfield spots and can play in the infield at second base, third base and shortstop.
Pittsburgh decided that it would be worth giving Simon a shot, who has been one of the best hitters in Triple-A and can hit lefties, batting .345/.462/.595 for an OPS of 1.057, rather than keeping Ozuna around.
It's the right decision from the Pirates, who can now use Ozuna's spot to have a utility player like Simon or a reserve player, such as outfielder Billy Cook, that comes in, does what it is asked and benefits the team in a small, but important way.
Ozuna had many chances to fix things in Pittsburgh and become a reliable right-handed power bat that could've brought them to their first postseason since 2015.
He'll instead end up as one of the most infamous Pirates players this century and fans will have wondered why the team couldn't have added a better right-handed bat in free agency or at the trade deadline.
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Dominic writes for Pittsburgh Pirates On SI, Pittsburgh Panthers Pn SI and also, Pittsburgh Steelers On SI. A Pittsburgh native, Dominic grew up watching Pittsburgh Sports and wrote for The Pitt News as an undergraduate at the University of Pittsburgh, covering Pitt Athletics. He would write for Pittsburgh Sports Now after college and has years of experience covering sports across Pittsburgh.