Braves' dream lineup of the future is already leaving Marcell Ozuna behind

Just about any way you slice it, the 2025 season has been a profound disappointment for the Atlanta Braves and their fans. What started with legitimate World Series aspirations has ended before we even get to August, as Atlanta sure seems primed to be sellers rather than buyers at this month's trade deadline.

But there's still plenty of baseball to be played, and there's still plenty to be gained and learned even amid a lost year. Without a playoff spot to play for, Atlanta has shifted gears a bit, prioritizing getting playing time for some younger talent to see who might be part of the next competitive Braves team. And no young talent is more promising than young slugger Drake Baldwin: The NL Rookie of the Year candidate has taken off since Brian Snitker made the decision to use both he and fellow catcher Sean Murphy as more or less every-day players, putting one behind the plate and one at DH in order to get both of their bats in the lineup.

Baldwin continued his breakout on Monday night, going 3-for-5 with a pair of doubles and six RBI in the Braves' 9-5 win over the San Francisco Giants.

A Braves offense that was struggling to get anything going for much of the first half has now scored 27 runs over four games since the All-Star break, a period that just so happens to dovetail pretty neatly with the the decision to put both Baldwin and Murphy in the lineup together on a regular basis. It sure feels liek Atlanta has stumbled on something sustainable, and that's left a longtime stalwart on the outside looking in.

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Drake Baldwin/Sean Murphy duo is playing Marcell Ozuna right out of Atlanta

It's no secret that Ozuna was on the trade block this month, especially once the Braves made the decision to at least somewhat shift their focus to 2026 and beyond. He's a DH-only in his mid 30s, and he's a pending free agent who'll likely be looking for another multi-year deal this winter. He likely wasn't in Atlanta's future plans to begin with, and that made him an obvious candidate to flip at the deadline to a team looking for an instant infusion of offense.

Now, though, Ozuna appears to have lost just about all of his leverage. Not only has he struggled at the plate amid a nagging hip injury, but the Braves have stumbled upon a solution to their DH problem that doesn't involve him at all. Baldwin might be 24 years old and in his first MLB season, but there's a pretty good argument that he's just straight-up a better hitter than Ozuna at this point, and both he and Murphy do enough damage at the plate to warrant putting them both in the starting lineup (and carrying a third catcher to avoid any weird late-game situations).

The Braves have every reason to ride with this lineup for the rest of the year, even against lefties in order to give Baldwin more reps. If Ozuna was counting on the Braves to help build his market this offseason, he can likely kiss that dream goodbye — and start packing his bags for a move at some point in the next few days.