Major League Baseball suspended Atlanta Braves outfielder Jurickson Profar on Monday after he tested positive for the performance-enhancing substance Chorionic Gonadotrophin (hCG).
This is obviously a huge blow to the Braves, who signed Profar, 32, to a three-year, $42 million contract in January, the only free agent they signed to a multiyear contract during the offseason, They immediately penciled him in as their everyday left fielder, and he hit leadoff in their first four games while star right fielder Ronald Acuña Jr. continues his rehab from May knee surgery.
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Some red flags were raised around baseball, albeit whispers rather than public accusations, after Profar had a career-best season for the San Diego Padres in 2024. But the Braves attributed his power and overall offensive gains to adjustments Profar made with his lower body in his batting stance, after working out with Fernando Tatis Jr. and his dad the previous winter.
Profar had career-bests in average (.280), on-base percentage (.380) and slugging percentage (.459) in 2024. He also had a career-high 24 homers — his previous high was 20 in both 2018 and 2019 – and had a 134 OPS+ after never posting one above 114 in his previous 10 MLB seasons (he had a 98 career OPS+ entering this season).
In his new contract, he was to be paid $12 million in 2025 and $15 million in each of the two seasons after that.
The Braves made what seemed at the time like a superfluous trade for middling Reds outfielder Stuart Fairchild earlier Monday, before the MLB Commissioner’s office announced the suspension. That trade — they gave up a small amount of cash in exchange for Fairchild — made sense after rumors began to spread that Profar had tested positive for PEDs.
Fairchild, 29, has a .224/.308/.389 career slash line (.697 OPS) with 18 home runs and 23 steals in 615 plate apparances (259 games) in parts of four MLB seasons with the Reds, Diamondbacks, Giants and Mariners, and had been designated for assignment by the Reds on Opening Day. Hardly a strong replacement for Profar, but just one week into the season, the Braves will likely have trouble doing much better, as teams rarely trade good players so early.
Profar, a native of Curacao, is a career .245/.331/.394 hitter with 111 homers in his 12-year major-league career. In four games to start the season, he went 3-for-15 with one walk and three strikeouts during the Braves’ opening series in San Diego.
(Photo: Orlando Ramirez / Getty Images)
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