SAN FRANCISCO -- When Marcell Ozuna crushed the 300th home run of his career, the Pirates’ slugger wasn’t even aware of the milestone he had he reached.
Once he understood, Ozuna quickly turned his attention to the future.
“Let’s go to 400,” Ozuna said in the din of the Pirates’ clubhouse following their 5-2 loss to the Giants at Oracle Park. “We got to get to Willie.”
That’s Willie, as in Willie “Pops” Stargell, who holds the franchise record with 475 home runs.
Even at his best pace, Ozuna would need at least eight more seasons to even come close to Stargell’s record. Ozuna now has four homers in his first season with Pittsburgh. The bulk of his home runs, 148, came during his six seasons with the Braves. He also hit 96 in four seasons with the Marlins and 52 in two seasons with the Cardinals.
Still, Ozuna does have his own unique spot in the history books.
The 35-year-old is the 167th player in MLB history to reach the 300-home run plateau, and he is one of just 15 active players to get there. Ozuna is the fifth player to do it in a Pirates jersey, joining Stargell, Andrew McCutchen, Jeromy Burnitz and Ralph Kiner.
“The work that he’s been putting in, sometimes you don’t see the translation from the work and [batting practice] into the game right away but I think we’re starting to see that,” Pirates manager Don Kelly said. “We’re starting to see him driving the ball. Even the base hit later, he stayed through it and got it into the outfield. He’s a good hitter and he’s coming around.”
No. 300 came in the top of the second inning against left-hander Robbie Ray, who threw a 1-2 slider low and in. Ozuna connected to send it a Statcast-projected 365 feet to left field.
According to the Pirates, Ozuna is the 15th player from the Dominican Republic to hit at least 300 home runs in the Majors.
“It means a lot. I’m blessed,” said Ozuna, adding that he’s more confident at the plate than he was earlier in the season. “When I hit the ball I didn’t even know if it was going [out] or not. Right now I’m seeing it better at the plate.”