Jurickson Profar being suspended, again

Jurickson Profar, the Atlanta Braves OF/DH who missed 80 games in 2025 due to a suspension for performance enhancing drugs, is facing a 162 game suspension for a second positive test, per Jeff Passan. Aside from missing the entire 2026 regular season and forfeiting his salary for 2026, Profar would also be ineligible for the playoffs, should the Braves make it to the postseason, as well as the World Baseball Classic.

Profar, 33, was, once upon a time, the crown jewel of the Texas Rangers’ farm system, someone whose precocity and advanced skills had him debuting in the majors at age 19, and led to the Rangers trading Ian Kinsler after the 2013 season so that Profar would have a place to play every day.

Profar ended up missing all of 2014 and most of 2015 due to a shoulder injury, and upon his return to the majors, did not initially hit. A solid if unspectacular season in 2018 was followed by a trade to the Oakland A’s. Profar spent most of the 2020-24 seasons with the San Diego Padres, and a breakout .280/.380/.459 slash line in 2024 — by far the best of his career — led to him signing a 3 year, $42 million deal with Atlanta.