2025 Atlanta Braves Players Year in Review: Marcell Ozuna

Now that Marcell Ozuna is a free agent, the Atlanta Braves will have to decide whether to re-sign him or not. The designated hitter has been fairly consistent in Atlanta for six seasons, though his production dipped this year.  Similar to Braves centerfielder Michael Harris II, Ozuna had quite a few highs and lows throughout the season, though his fluctuations were largely due to a hip injury. 

Ozuna started off the season strong, batting a solid .283 with a .915 OPS through April, but his numbers began to decline after he attempted to play through a tear in his hip. He managed to get through May with his head still above water, batting .277 with an .851 OPS, but things quickly fell off in June, when Ozuna’s stats fell to .188 with a .550 OPS. 

Ozuna’s production began to get complicated in July, as he batted .167, but his OBP jumped from .263 to .354 as he walked three times more and struck out 19 times less than he did in seven more games in June. 

The Braves decided to hold onto Ozuna through the trade deadline, amidst expectations that he’d spend the rest of his season elsewhere. Ozuna even reportedly vetoed three trade deals.

In August, Ozuna had a two-week run in which he seemed more like his former self, batting .255 with a .949 OPS. In that time, he also knocked five home runs, his most in a single 2025 month through that point in the season. Ozuna played eight games in August after this streak, slumping to a .087 batting average and a .345 OPS.

In September, Ozuna righted the ship and resumed his typical “feast or famine” style, batting .261 and hitting six home runs while walking rarely and striking out often. Notably, by September, Ozuna was sharing reps at DH with catchers Sean Murphy and Drake Baldwin.

Overall, Ozuna recorded his worst hitting year by batting average since 2022, as his .232 average was the third-worst batting average of his career. Despite a low batting average, Ozuna managed to boast a on-base percentage of .355, a top-five best of his career. 

Ozuna’s production aligns with the timeline of his injury, as he walked more and hit fewer pitches further at and after his diagnosis. As he healed, though, his strength returned, so he swung harder and more often.

Since he was recovering for most of the season, Ozuna recorded his best walk percentage to date and was even in the 98th percentile for the stat. His chase rate jumped from the 62nd percentile to the 85th percentile, while his exit velocity, average exit velocity, hard hit percentage and bat speed all suffered from his ailment.  

Ozuna’s traditionally been one of the most powerful hitters in the league, but his pitch selection has limited his production. When injured, though, Ozuna’s stats project him as one of the most disciplined hitters in baseball, a stark contrast from the “feast or famine” archetype he’s become known for. If he’s able to find the Goldilocks zone between these two styles, this new style of hitting could potentially make him one of the best hitters in the league.

The more likely possibility, though, is that he’ll return to swinging hard at just about everything, hitting the strikes pretty far and striking out on pitches out of the zone. 

With all of this in mind, could a healthy Ozuna be a fit for Atlanta in 2026? Braves general manager Alex Anthopolous isn’t sure.

"We haven't closed the door on guys like [Marcell Ozuna],” he said in a press conference, “but we just don't know. If someone who is a pure DH is the right move, we’ll make it. But right now, we’re not committed to anything.”