The Pittsburgh Pirates have released struggling designated hitter Marcell Ozuna on Wednesday as they gear up for a playoff push.
Ozuna, who signed a one-year, $12 million deal before the season that included a mutual option for 2027, didn't provide the offensive punch that the Pirates had hoped for, hitting just .203 with eight home runs, 29 RBIs and a .613 OPS in 70 games.
The Pirates, who are 3½ games out of the final wild-card spot in the National League, have call up switch-hitting utility man Ronny Simon from Triple-A Indianapolis to take Ozuna's place on the active roster.
Ozuna, 35, never got comfortable at Pittsburgh's PNC Park, where he has struggled throughout his career at a venue that has been historically difficult for right-handed hitters. In 65 career games at the stadium, Ozuna has a .229 batting average with seven home runs in 65 games.
His playing time has diminished of late due to the emergence of rookie Esmerlyn Valdez.
He hit 21 homers for the Atlanta Braves in 2025 and finished with a .756 OPS, down from .925 in 2024. His 148 homers with Atlanta from 2020 to 2025 were third among DHs during that time, behind only Shohei Ohtani and Kyle Schwarber.
Ozuna signed with the Braves as a free agent in 2020 on a one-year deal, posted a career-high 1.067 OPS, then re-signed with Atlanta in 2021 for four years and $65 million plus a club option for 2025. He has had a decorated career, with three All-Star appearances, two Silver Sluggers and one Gold Glove, and he received votes four times for National League MVP, peaking with a fourth-place finish in 2024.
Simon leads the International League with a .330 batting average and has seven home runs, 63 RBIs and 33 stolen bases while reaching base in 85 of his 99 games this season.
Pittsburgh also activated left-handed reliever Evan Sisk off the injured list and optioned reliever Wilber Dotel to Triple-A Indianapolis on Wednesday.
The decision comes on the heels of a trade deadline in which Pittsburgh, seeking to end a decade-long playoff drought, fortified its leaky bullpen with a series of moves, including acquiring prominent reliever Luke Weaver from the New York Mets.
While manager Don Kelly and general manager Ben Cherington defended Ozuna repeatedly, with Cherington expressing confidence the underlying metrics showed Ozuna was close to turning it around and Kelly praising Ozuna's influence on the club's Latin players. But with a chance to play meaningful baseball into September on the line, the team opted to move on.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.