Braves taking Ozuna's playing time on day-to-day basis

CINCINNATI -- Braves president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos said his Trade Deadline focus was to focus on acquiring players who could help in 2026 and beyond. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to move at least one player, who doesn’t seemingly fit in the team’s future plans.

One day after not being traded and two weeks after being told he’d likely be a bench player, Marcell Ozuna batted fifth for the Braves in their 3-2 loss to the Reds on Friday afternoon at Great American Ball Park. How much Ozuna fills the designated hitter spot in favor of one of the team’s catchers (Sean Murphy or Drake Baldwin) over the rest of the season remains to be seen.

“It's going to be day to day,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “I'd like to see the same thing that happened two or three years ago, when I stayed with the guy and he finally found it. That's kind of in the back of my mind, that he did it once, and maybe he can do it again. I know the other options cooled off a little bit, and I just know what [Ozuna] is capable of.”

Snitker said as long as Baldwin, a top National League Rookie of the Year candidate, continues to hit, he’ll likely be in the DH or catcher spot on a daily basis. This indicates Ozuna may only play when Baldwin is catching.

But with that limit this just lessens the opportunities for Murphy, whose .779 OPS since the All-Star break is higher than the one produced by Baldwin (.737) and Ozuna (.728).

Snitker has said as long as Ozuna is on the roster, he won’t just let him “rot on the bench.” But whether looking at current or long-term benefits, it seems more productive to have either Murphy or Baldwin, whichever isn’t catching that day, serve as the designated hitter a majority of the time.

This was the plan Snitker announced coming out of the All-Star break, when the Braves still felt they could make a miraculous run to the postseason. As Ozuna suddenly got a majority of the starts this week, it seemed like the team was just trying to stir some trade interest.

But with the Trade Deadline in the rear view mirror on Friday, the Braves played Ozuna, despite the fact that he has been the least productive of the three players.

Season OPS: Murphy .820, Baldwin .811, Ozuna .759

OPS since June 1: Murphy .818, Baldwin .766, Ozuna .608

OPS since July 1: Murphy .912, Baldwin .784, Ozuna .705

The Braves are thinking about having Murphy and Baldwin flip-flop between the catching and DH spots all of next year. So, wouldn’t it make sense to test this arrangement as frequently as possible this year?

The complexities of Ozuna’s free-agent market came into focus as the Braves were unable to find a trade suitor. Yeah, the 34-year-old veteran has struggled this year, but he produced MLB’s ninth-best OPS (.916) from 2023-24.

Anthopoulos said he never even approached Ozuna about waiving his no-trade rights as a 10-and-5 player. In other words, a deal didn’t get to the finish line. This year’s struggles certainly played a part. Teams may have also had some concerns about the right hip issue the veteran DH battled this year.

Ozuna has said the hip is fine over the past couple months. But medical reports would be the determining factor for interested teams.

There was also surprise the Braves didn’t trade free-agent-to-be closer Raisel Iglesias, who earned the save after Ozuna tallied a game-winning sacrifice fly in the 10th inning of Thursday night’s win over the Reds.

Ozuna will now see how many opportunities he gets to strengthen his market before becoming a free agent. Regardless, whether he plays frequently or infrequently, his presence doesn’t seem to benefit the Braves’ lineup from an immediate or long-term perspective.

But Snitker feels a sense of loyalty for the veteran slugger, who battled through legal issues (arrests for domestic violence and a DUI) and elongated slumps before taking himself to the brink of being released just before he caught fire a month into 2023 and became one of the game’s best bats for two seasons.

“He's a great teammate, a great person and he cares,” Snitker said. “He works his tail off, and nobody wants to do well more than him. It’s just one of those things where he's an easy guy to root for because of the person that he is.”