{"id":578590,"date":"2026-02-18T03:48:23","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T03:48:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/578590\/"},"modified":"2026-02-18T03:48:23","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T03:48:23","slug":"marcell-ozuna-says-goodbye-to-atlanta-braves-in-social-media-post","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/578590\/","title":{"rendered":"Marcell Ozuna Says Goodbye to Atlanta Braves in Social Media Post"},"content":{"rendered":"

Marcell Ozuna spent the past six seasons with the Atlanta Braves<\/a>. This past offseason, Ozuna signed a contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates, however. After joining his new ball club, Ozuna shared a goodbye message for the Braves on social media.<\/p>\n

“Thank you Brave country. You\u2019ll be forever in my heart,” Ozuna wrote on Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Ozuna had some big seasons with the Braves without question. Atlanta will miss his bat in the lineup. Ozuna, 35, will now receive a fresh start in Pittsburgh with the Pirates. He will instantly become one of their best hitters.<\/p>\n

Ozuna technically only made one All-Star team with Atlanta, but he would have made two if there were All-Star teams in 2020. The right-handed slugger finished sixth in National League MVP voting and earned a Silver Slugger during the 2020 campaign — which was his first season in Atlanta after previously playing with the Miami Marlins and St. Louis Cardinals.<\/p>\n

He only played in 48 games in 2021 and he struggled across 124 games in 2022. He had a respectable bounce back season in 2023 before having probably the best year of his career in 2024.<\/p>\n

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The ’24 campaign saw Ozuna record an impressive .302\/.378\/.546 slash line while appearing in all 162 games. He added 39 home runs, 104 RBI, 96 runs scored and 31 doubles. The result? Ozuna earned the third All-Star selection of his career — and first with the Braves as mentioned — and he finished fourth in NL MVP voting.<\/p>\n

The 2025 season saw Ozuna struggle at the plate, though. He ultimately finished the year with a .232 batting average and .756 OPS. He still hit 21 home runs across 145 games played.<\/p>\n

The Braves are set to head in a new direction. Their lineup still features plenty of talent, so they should be alright. They could return to the playoffs in 2026 as long as injuries don’t prove to be too much of an obstacle — although the starting rotation is already dealing with multiple injury concerns.<\/p>\n

As for Ozuna, he will prepare for his next chapter with the Pirates. Pittsburgh is seemingly trying to build a contender around ace Paul Skenes. In addition to Ozuna, the ball club added Brandon Lowe and Ryan O’Hearn this past offseason. Perhaps they will reach the postseason for the first time since 2015 this year — although they are likely still a year or two away from seriously contending.<\/p>\n