Marcell Ozuna reached 300 career home runs on May 9, driving a 1-2 slider from Robbie Ray 365 feet to left field for his fourth homer of the season in the second inning. The blast made Ozuna the 167th player in MLB history to reach the milestone, but it did not change the result for Pittsburgh, which lost 5-2 at the San Francisco Giants.
Ozuna, 35, said the moment meant plenty to him. “It’s big,” he said. “It’s amazing, especially with the career I have.” He added that being part of the 300 Homer Club is “fantastic” and said, “I thank God for the opportunity to do that.” He finished the thought with a familiar target: “Let’s get to 400!”
The homer capped a rebound stretch for Ozuna after a difficult opening month. Through April, he was batting.162 with a.467 OPS, had 29 strikeouts and seven walks, and drew boos early this season at PNC Park after signing a one-year, $12 million free-agent deal in February. Since the start of May, he has looked more settled at the plate, batting.244 with an.819 OPS while producing two homers, six RBIs, 11 strikeouts and eight walks.
That turnaround matters because Ozuna entered the season with 296 career homers and had spent the first part of the year trying to shake off the slow start with a new club. He had already built the bulk of his power numbers across three stops before Pittsburgh, with 96 homers in five seasons with Miami, 52 in two seasons with St. Louis and 148 in six seasons with Atlanta. The 300-homer shot also put him among a small group of active players; only 15 are in the club, and Ozuna became the 15th player from the Dominican Republic to reach it.
There is one more layer to the milestone. Ozuna became the fifth player to hit his 300th home run in a Pirates uniform, joining Ralph Kiner, Willie Stargell, Jeromy Burnitz and Andrew McCutchen. For a player who said he feels “a lot better” and is “trying to get my rhythm and get in attack mode a little bit more,” the homer offered both a career marker and a sign that the early noise around him may be giving way to something more steady.
Ozuna also said he is “seeing more pitches” and feels “blessed here,” adding that the grind of adapting to a new team and new teammates can be difficult. Still, he said, “They always helped support me,” and, “They gave me the confidence to keep grinding and put some balls in play.” For Pittsburgh, the question now is whether the milestone is the start of a real run of production, or simply the high point in a season that already has swung sharply in both directions.
