Braves' Marcell Ozuna: Option officially picked up
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Atlanta exercised Ozuna's $16 million club option for 2025, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reports.
The transaction was a given after Ozuna batted .302/.378/.546 with 39 home runs and 104 RBI in 2024. He is a full-time designated hitter at this point in his career, having not played a single inning in the outfield this season, but Ozuna should be a middle-of-the-order force again in 2025 in what will be his age-34 season.
Atlanta president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos said Friday that the team plans to exercise Ozuna's $16 million club option for 2025, Grant McAuley of 92.9 The Game Atlanta reports.
The decision was a gimme after Ozuna slashed .302/.378/.546 with 39 home runs and 104 RBI in 2024. The veteran slugger didn't play a single inning in the outfield this season, so Jorge Soler will have to play the outfield in 2025 if Atlanta intends on him being a regular next season. It's not ideal from a defensive standpoint, but Atlanta wasn't going to let Ozuna walk after he was the team's best offensive player in 2024.
Ozuna went 3-for-4 with a solo home run, two doubles, two runs scored and two total RBI during Wednesday's 7-1 win over the Reds.
Ozuna snapped a streak of 26 games without a home run, taking Tony Santillan yard in the seventh inning. In September, Ozuna is 17-for-56 (.304) with seven runs, two RBI and almost as many walks (10) as strikeouts (11).
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Braves' Marcell Ozuna: Another three hits in win
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Ozuna went 3-for-3 with a three-run homer, a walk and three runs scored in Saturday's win over the Angels.
Ozuna crushed a hanging slider from Griffin Canning 437 feet over the wall in center field in his first at-bat to score Michael Harris and Austin Riley, giving the veteran slugger his 36th long ball of the campaign and his fifth this month. Ozuna added two leadoff singles in the contest, marking his second consecutive three-hit performance and his sixth multi-hit effort in his last 10 games overall. Over that latter stretch, he's batting .428 (18-for-42) with four homers, seven RBI and nine runs scored.
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Braves' Marcell Ozuna: Racks up three hits in loss
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Ozuna went 3-for-4 with a walk and a run scored in Friday's 3-2 loss to the Angels.
Ozuna was the only Atlanta batter to record multiple hits in the contest. He's shown no signs of slowing down in August, going 19-for-61 (.311) with four homers over 15 contests this month. He's up to a .302/.374/.580 slash line, 35 home runs, 90 RBI, 75 runs scored and 23 doubles across 122 games this season.
Ozuna went 2-for-4 with a walk, a home run and two RBI in Thursday's loss to the Brewers.
It was a rough night for Atlanta overall in a 16-7 rout, but Ozuna did what he could with a solo shot in the seventh inning off Bryse Wilson and an RBI groundout in the eighth. The veteran slugger is up to 33 homers and 88 RBI on the season, and he's been on a rampage over the last month, slashing .323/.377/.656 in his last 25 games with 10 long balls, 15 RBI and 19 runs.
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Braves' Marcell Ozuna: Goes yard Saturday
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Ozuna went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Saturday's 4-3 loss to Miami.
Ozuna went four games without a homer, going 3-for-17 with nine strikeouts and no extra-base hits in that span. The 33-year-old slugger remains in second place in the National League for homers with 32 this year, one behind the Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani. For the season, Ozuna has added a stellar .300/.374/.583 slash line, 86 RBI, 69 runs scored, 20 doubles and no stolen bases through 110 contests.
Ozuna went 1-for-3 with a walk and a solo home run in Monday's loss to the Brewers.
He opened the scoring in the game by taking Colin Rea deep in the fourth inning. Ozuna has homered in three of the last four games, boosting his total on the season to 31. Over the last 15 games he's slashing a blistering .382/.452/.818 with eight home runs, 10 RBI and 13 runs.
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Braves' Marcell Ozuna: Homers again Monday
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Ozuna went 1-for-3 with a solo home run and a walk in Monday's 8-3 loss to Milwaukee.
Ozuna has homered in three of the last four games, and he's hit 10 long balls over 23 contests in July. The designated hitter is up to 31 homers, 83 RBI, 66 runs scored, 20 doubles and a .306/.384/.596 slash line through 105 games this season. Atlanta's trade for Jorge Soler from San Francisco on Monday shouldn't have much of an effect on Ozuna, as Soler will likely be the one to pick up playing time in the outfield.
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Braves' Marcell Ozuna: Launches homer No. 30
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Ozuna went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Saturday's 4-0 win over the Mets.
He took Tylor Megill deep in the fourth inning, the first of three solo shots by Atlanta off the right-hander. Ozuna has gone yard in back-to-back games to reach 30 on the season, and he's finishing July in style, slashing .404/.466/.827 over the last 14 contests with seven homers and nine RBI.
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Braves' Marcell Ozuna: Slugs 29th homer
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Ozuna went 2-for-3 with a solo home run in Friday's loss to the Mets.
He drove an Eric Orze changeup over the left-field fence in the sixth inning, but Atlanta was already in an 8-2 hole at that point. Ozuna has somehow gotten even hotter at the plate in July, collecting multiple hits in nine of his last 13 games and batting .417 (20-for-48) over that stretch with six homers. The 33-year-old DH sits one long ball short of his third career 30-homer campaign, and 19 RBI shy of reaching triple digits for the third time.
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Braves' Marcell Ozuna: Big power display against Cards
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Ozuna went 2-for-4 with two solo home runs in the second game of Saturday's doubleheader split against the Cardinals.
After going 1-for-4 in the matinee, Ozuna piled up 855 feet worth of long balls off Sonny Gray in the nightcap, accounting for half of the four homers Atlanta slugged off the right-hander in a losing effort. Ozuna has hit safely in eight straight games, and through 62 plate appearances in July he's slashing .328/.355/.724 with seven home runs and 12 RBI. The 33-year-old needs to go yard twice more in 2024 to record the third 30-homer campaign of his career, and he's on pace to top the career-high 40 he launched just last season.
