{"id":89200,"date":"2025-09-07T08:23:48","date_gmt":"2025-09-07T08:23:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=89200"},"modified":"2025-09-07T08:23:48","modified_gmt":"2025-09-07T08:23:48","slug":"late-season-slump-is-going-to-cost-this-braves-slugger-dearly-in-free-agency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=89200","title":{"rendered":"Late season slump is going to cost this Braves slugger dearly in free agency"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<figure><\/figure>\n<div>\n<p id=\"inline-text-0\">Despite some initial interest at the trade deadline, the Atlanta Braves were unable to move veteran slugger Marcell Ozuna, with some reports surfacing that the long-time Brave leveraged his 10-5 rights (10+ years in the league, 5+ years with the same team) in order to veto potential trades, preferring to finish out the season in Atlanta.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\">Ozuna might live to regret that decision with the Braves scaling back his playing time in an effort to find more at-bats for younger players who have a future with the club in 2026 and beyond.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-2\">Turning 35 in the offseason, a lack of mobility has basically ensured Ozuna will no longer be a viable option in the outfield, and with Atlanta looking in a different direction, the three-time All-Star will likely be looking for a new employer come the offseason.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"inline-text-3\">Marcell Ozuna&#8217;s cold stretch will cost him dearly as the Braves look to the future<\/h2>\n<p id=\"inline-text-4\">It&#8217;s clear that Ozuna is one of many Braves who have played their way out of the club&#8217;s 2026 plans. Ozuna went from playing some of the best baseball of his career in 2023 and 2024, cracking 79 homers over that two-year stretch and putting up wRC+ numbers of 140 and 154, respectively, to looking like a shell of his former self as the season has gone on.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-5\">The 2025 season began with Ozuna looking as if he&#8217;d continue his fearsome hitting, with a .915 OPS in the season&#8217;s opening month. He followed that up with a .277\/.415\/.436 line in May before hitting a wall on June 1.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-6\">Since June 1, Ozuna has hit just .189\/.301\/.362 with 11 homers and some inconsistent power production overall. In the months of July and August, he posted ISO of .241 and .234, showcasing the pop he&#8217;s been known for. However, those thunderous performances are sandwiched between an anemic .099 ISO in June and a .091 mark so far in September.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-7\">One thing that has been consistent in 2025 has been his inability to consistently hit for average. After batting .302 last year, Ozuna has hit sub-.200 every month from June on and has seen his season average slip to .228.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-8\">Now, with him getting less playing time down the stretch run, he&#8217;s running out of opportunities to prove that his nosedive has been a fluke and may ultimately live to regret not being moved to a better situation at the trade deadline as he looks to cash in on what might be the final payday of his career.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"inline-text-9\">More Braves News from House That Hank Built<\/h3>\n<figure><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Despite some initial interest at the trade deadline, the Atlanta Braves were unable to move veteran slugger Marcell Ozuna, with some reports surfacing that the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":89205,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-89200","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.6 - 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