The Pittsburgh Pirates have one of the best offensive units in baseball as their lineup is third best in hits, fourth best in RBIs and the fifth best team batting average. One player that has unfortunately not been able to greatly contribute is designated hitter Marcell Ozuna.
Ozuna was signed this offseason to be the Pirates’ primary DH, but has largely not lived up to his former All-Star stature. In 49 games the 35-year-old former Silver Slugger is slashing just .193/.277/.304 with a mere five home runs and 58 strikeouts. Ozuna also has a -.8 WAR on the season.
Despite the struggles, it sounds like the Pirates front office are fully backing Ozuna. General Manager Ben Cherington gave his reasoning for support of Ozuna on the Pirates Insider Show on 93.7 The Fan on Sunday.
“Certainly plenty of runway in terms of being on the team,” Cherington said. “He’s a big part of the team. We keep working with him. He’s made a really good contribution off the field. He hasn’t gotten quite going on the field yet.”
Cherington went on to further say that Manager Don Kelly has a lot at his disposal when shaping the lineup and that has also contributed to Ozuna not being a constant fixture.
“I think the biggest challenge in the short term is the lineup with the roster construction we have right now, there is obviously a lot of days where Donny has a reason to put someone else at DH,” Cherington said. “Whether it’s a particular matchup or whether it’s someone who might need a day off their feet. We would probably expect some more in the short term.”
With the flexibility that Kelly has with his lineup, there have been numerous players appear at DH for the club in 2026. Outside of Ozuna Bryan Reynolds, Spencer Horwitz, Brandon Lowe, Oneil Cruz, Ryan O’Hearn and Konnor Griffin have all made appearances as the team’s designated hitter. Just since May 28, there have been six different designated hitters in the lineup.
Although Ozuna has had the most appearances at DH for the Pirates he has gotten off to an ice cold start to 2026. Now again he’s on the back half of his career and his age has shown at the plate. With that being said it’s not the first time “The Big Bear” has had a slow start or a slump before turning things around. Last season he had a similarly slow (and injury riddled) start to his campaign before finishing with 21 homers. Not to mention he’s only two seasons removed from smashing 39 home runs with a National League third best slugging percentage and third best OPS.
Despite Ozuna being viewed by many on the outside as someone the Pirates could easily move on from, Cherington and company still see the upside that the aging slugger can provide.
“We are going to give it time because we see that hot streak for him,” Cherington said. “We want to be the beneficiaries of that, when that happens and are confident that will happen.”
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